Lebanese University: A Stumbling Start and Suspended Entitlements

The Lebanese University awaits the fate of its pending files on the eve of the Cabinet session, foremost among them the university presidency and the tenure (tafrigh) of contracted professors. With the term of university president Bassam Badran ending on October 12, the list of 13 candidates has not yet been referred to the Cabinet, and the debate over Badran's right to a second term remains unresolved. The tenure file remains stuck between the demand for sectarian balance, equality criteria, and the question of funding the first batch of about 400 professors in the 2027 budget, with indications that the file will not be on the agenda of the next Cabinet session. Contracted professors continue their open-ended strike with sit-ins on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and the executive body of the Association of Full-Time Professors announced a strike for Tuesday and Wednesday in solidarity with them, affecting the start of the academic year.