Through its student union and internal organization, the University of Benghazi has long been a center of recognized political, cultural and community activities, which made it a target of the former regime.  It was here that Gaddafi’s security caught and liquidated activists, secretly in most cases and sometimes publicly, as happened in 1976 when a number of students who participated in anti-government demonstrations were executed on the university campus in front of all the students.

Through its student union and internal organization, the University of Benghazi has long been a center of recognized political, cultural and community activities, which made it a target of the former regime.  It was here that Gaddafi’s security caught and liquidated activists, secretly in most cases and sometimes publicly, as happened in 1976 when a number of students who participated in anti-government demonstrations were executed on the university campus in front of all the students.

University of Garyounis in Benghazi is Libya’s first and oldest university and one of its largest educational institutions. It was founded in 1955 and witnessed many developmental stages until it reached the current area of 460 hectares. Its buildings were designed in the form of a crown whose jewel is the central library of the university.

Under the effacement process practiced by Gaddafi and his regime on the university features, the first change was made to its name, which became “Garyounis”, the name of the camp where Gaddafi led his coup and seized power in 1969. The change happened in the same year when students were hanged in the so-called “students’ revolution.”

Afterwards, Gaddafi began “maintenance” of the university buildings whose design carried a clear signal of the royal era in Libya, which he used to call “the defunct era”. Maintenance has been ongoing for many years and has taken place in all university buildings, causing a major crisis in the educational process since most buildings are temporarily unusable.

Each day, 82,000 students, 3,000 teaching staff and 5,000 employees walk in and out of the campus, which comprises 22 faculties in addition to the general administration building. The university squares are hardly devoid of protesters, and sometimes sitters-in, who demand their different rights, which collide with the deteriorating educational and structural situation in a university that needs a long time to be repaired.

Why has the university’s name been changed from Garyounis to Benghazi?

University of Benghazi is the original name; it was Gaddafi who wanted to blur everything and came up with Garyounis. Just as the independence flag, the national anthem and everything else returned to their original names, the university had to reclaim the features that have returned to Libya.

Why are there complaints and frequent protests by university students?

The fundamental problems are related to the maintenance in all colleges and branches with the absence of the companies commissioned with the maintenance by higher authorities of the state. Unfortunately, the university administration had no relationship with those commissions or agreements. Hence, our real problem began, namely the inability to intervene in the course of this maintenance unless we consulted higher competent authorities led by the Ministry of Higher Education.

In addition, there is an urgent need for maintenance related to damages and losses of the war experienced in our country, especially in branches, such as Ajdabiya, Kufra and Jalu.

Other colleges also suffer from cracks and damages due to the absence of technical follow-up and unjustified maintenance projects at the same time. This heavy legacy needs intensified efforts at all technical, administrative, educational and financial levels to confront this situation.

Do you think that the maintenance project that has been ongoing for years is a deliberate waste of public money or a systematic approach to change the architectural style of the university by Gaddafi’s regime?

What happened to the university buildings was destruction, not maintenance. When the son of the university designer visited it some time ago, he cried when he saw its condition.

I remember when the engineer who designed the university suggested in 1974 that it was possible to add other buildings with the same specification of the first design, without prejudice to the overall appearance.

I believe that it is primarily a material subject, because the maintenance contracts were awarded at overestimated financial values. From another point of view, there may be a political dimension of this action; namely, hiding the real features and design of the university, which is not uncommon. I believe that Gaddafi’s regime deliberately hid the features of the university, entirely under the name of maintenance.

Even the central library experienced unjustified maintenance, described by students as a “disaster”.  Can you speak about that?

The central library as well as the university did not need all this maintenance. The maintenance caused long lasting bewilderment. The university administration was interested in protecting the books from loss or damage, which was a great responsibility. Thankfully, what we feared did not occur.

How have the poor health facilities and the lack of desks affected students?

These are among the major things that directly affect students. For example, in the Faculty of Economics, WCs are small in number and do not enjoy proper follow-up, while the number of students has increased and exceeded 15,000, in a college that was not designed to accommodate such numbers. This applies to other colleges too. On the other hand, students have a responsibility for preserving what is maintained and handling it with care. It is a collective responsibility here and requires commitment to educational and ethical controls.

Regarding acute shortage of desks, as the rector and upon the university council approval, I took quick practical procedures to solve the problem. We have contracted to bring 15,000 desks to the university and branches, and they are now on the way. This is a direct responsibility of the university council and the rector.

A while ago, students in residence halls protested against the non-payment of grants. Did you respond to their demands?

We paid the grant even before the Ministry of Higher Education issued its instructions. The grant used to be 90 Dinars (US $72), but authorities thought this value was not sufficient, so a decision was issued by the cabinet through the ministry to pay 15 Dinars ($12) per day for each student, that is 450 Dinars ($360) per month for non-resident students and less than that for resident students since there are deductions for meals. Failing students are deprived of the grant.

The ministry’s decision stipulated that the grant is disbursed from March through June of each year, but we objected and asked to continue disbursement until the end of September because study continues in the university. We consequently assumed the responsibility for disbursement of these grants and developed clear mechanisms during the university council extraordinary meeting to disburse them very soon.