Collective Action
Students demonstrate at the Lebanese American University in Beirut to protest dollarisation of tuition fees
For the second time this week, students of the Lebanese American University protested today against the institution’s decision to collect tuition fees completely in US dollars starting in the fall of 2022. The university’s administration announced this decision last week. The protesters formed human barricades to block access to classes at LAU’s Beirut campus and called on their colleagues to do the same, chanting “pack your bags and go home.” As a result, some classes were cancelled for the day.
A video circulating on social media showed an LAU security guard expelling from campus a photographer who works for the media Megaphone to prevent him from covering the student action. Following the protest, the LAU administration notified students by email that they should demand an authorisation prior to organising sit-ins inside the university campus and that some of the students who participated in the April 6 protests would be temporarily suspended from classes.