AUC student among the dead in Port Said

All of yesterday’s deaths are heartbreaking, but it was especially sad to receive this email from President Anderson.

I didn’t know Omar personally. If he was set to graduate this February, it means that he would have finished all of his classes before Christmas, and was probably just excitedly passing the time before graduation (two weeks from now) with a fun road trip to Port Said to watch the popular al-Ahly club.

Please do not be lured into thinking that this was just a hooliganism incident gone terribly awry. 79 are dead, virtually all of them from among the al-Ahly fans, who as a group happen to be ardent revolutionaries. In my email conversations with people back in Cairo, I haven´t heard from one person who thinks this was anything but organized.

I’m very sad to learn that our student Omar was among the victims of this disgrace.

Dear AUC Community,

I am deeply saddened to report that one of our students, Omar Aly Saad Mohsen, a senior scheduled to graduate this February in economics, was among the 79 people killed in the tragic soccer match that took place yesterday in Port Said.

To mourn the loss of our student and the many other victims who lost their lives, the University will observe a day of mourning on Sunday, February 5. The University will be open but all classes are suspended and a University-wide memorial service will be held at noon in Bartlett Plaza.

We extend our condolences to Omar’s family and friends and all others who feel this terrible loss.

—

Lisa Anderson

President

The American University in Cairo