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American University Hopes to Fill Higher-Ed Gap in Iraq

Associated Press

   BAGHDAD - From afar, the sprawling complex of the newly inaugurated
   American University in Baghdad appears like a floating mirage.

   Encircled by blue waters of a human-made lake, former Saddam
   Hussein-era palaces have been converted to university departments
   promising a U.S.-style education to meet the needs of Iraq's growing
   youth.

   Higher education has lagged in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion
   that toppled Saddam. Government officials maintain that the American
   University in Baghdad, which opened this week, is critical to shoring
   up the country's flailing state of higher education.

   The campus is a sight rarely seen in Baghdad's urban sprawl: Ducks
   float by peacefully, as a handful of students, backpacks slung over
   their shoulders, head to class. Glossy new buses take others across a
   winding road.

   "I feel more like a mayor of a big city than a university president,"
   AUIB President Michael Mulnix said in an interview with The Associated
   Press on Monday, a day after the university officially opened its
   doors.

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