On August 8, 2024, the Advancement and Alumni Office hosted another series of Formanite Talkies, #Journalist Edition, celebrating the accomplishments of Formanite journalists. The evening began with a welcome address from Mrs. Badia Raza, Chief Marketing and Outreach Officer.

The Chief Guest, Dr. Jonathan S. Addleton, Rector FCCU, delivered insightful remarks on the profound impact of journalism and the significant contributions of Formanite journalists in the field. The event continued with a special introduction session where alumni guests shared memorable experiences, expressing their gratitude towards the Department of Mass Communication, Dr. Altaf Ullah Khan, Dean of Social Sciences, and Dr. Firasat Jabeen, Chairperson of the Department of Mass Communication, for significantly shaping their careers.

Following that, an interactive quiz session tested participants’ knowledge about FCCU adding a fun and competitive element to the event. The evening also featured a segment of entertainment, adding a lively and enjoyable element to the proceedings. The event concluded with a networking session over tea and refreshments, offering attendees an opportunity to connect and continue their conversations.

The event received high praise from participants and was a testament to the enduring bond between FCCU and its alumni.

Written by FCCU Rector Dr. Jonathan Addleton.

Forman’s efforts to strengthen outreach this summer included a program involving approximately 45 students from underprivileged communities from across Pakistan, preparing them to take the admissions test for the Bachelor program. A variety of students participated as boarders including six from Sindh’s Hindu community; a Christian student from Balochistan; six students from Jaranwala, and five students from southern Punjab; another 20 students from Lahore are participating as day scholars.

In other sponsored by The News on July 6-7 at the Lahore Expo Center in Johar Town, providing an opportunity to showcase opportunities available on our campus for aspiring university students.

Joined by several student volunteers, staff members Nasir Gill, Fakhar Edina, Rohama Waseem, Angel Safdar and Sofia Shahzad were available to answer questions posed by the more than 120 people who visited the Forman stall to express interest in studying at our university. Speaker of the Punjab outreach, Forman participated in the Education Expo exp Assembly Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan also visited the Forman stall, lending his support.

As potential students look forward to the Fall 2024 semester, Forman’s extensive financial aid programs were featured in sixteen different English and Urdu newspapers across the country including Dawn, The News, Express Tribune, The Nation, Jang and Nawaiwaqt. Drawing on the headline “Empowering Education with Financial Aid and Scholarships,” the articles noted that during the 2022-2023 academic year Forman awarded 338 million rupees in grant assistance to more than 2,300 students; for 2023-2024, the figure exceeded 430 million rupees.

Many individuals have been involved in these outreach programs, making it difficult to list names without inadvertently leaving some out. However, I do want to recognize Suleman Khairullah (Admissions), Phool Shahzad (Financial Aid), Haroon Christy Munir (MarCom) and Badia Raza (Marketing and Outreach), among others, for their vital work in this area, especially as we look toward the Fall semester and the hoped-for attainment of our enrollment targets.

About Lahore Pakistan

Forman College was established in 1864 in one of Pakistan’s most prominent cities, Lahore. Lahore captivates the hearts of those who come here to achieve their goals. Its rich culture is manifested in its festivals, literature, language, cuisine, and culture. 

The true Lahari life is visible in the city’s heart, where narrow alleys, old architecture, mosques, temples, churches, forts, museums, and centuries-old traditions prevail and speak for themselves.

About the FCCU Campus

FCCU’s campus has a parking area reserved for the FCCU community and other visitors. Three main entrances connect to this field leading up to the main campus. 

Inside the college’s walled campus is one of the greenest and most vibrant campuses in the whole city. In fact, because of its lush floral estate, many call it a garden campus.

FCCU is among the oldest educational institutions in the subcontinent with a rich history spanning over 157 years. Dr. Charles Forman founded FCCU as a college with just a handful of students. Today, it’s a chartered university. Along the way, FCCU has been a pioneer of academic breakthroughs.

The campus provides a safe space for religious and ethnic minorities. FCCU has a robust scholarship fund to help students meet their financial needs. Through the years, we have developed a foundation for providing quality education with innovative and revolutionary ideas.  

Academics at FCCU

FCCU’s four-year baccalaureate honors program offers an American-style world-class liberal arts education system with affordable tuition. Our faculty are some of the most qualified people in their respective fields. The university offers PhD programs, Masters, and executive education courses in various disciplines. 

FCCU boasts a very diverse student body with students coming from all corners of the country. Alumni are prominent in arts, literature, business, and politics.

Campus Amenities

The main ground is a common space for everyone to hang out in the sun or play the sport they choose. The newly completed campus center is dedicated to university students. There is no other center of this kind anywhere in Pakistan. It offers much-needed spaces for dining, leisure, and entertainment— all of which will foster a sense of community and student engagement.  

Many campus buildings are equipped with smart classrooms, which are fully equipped with the latest technology to offer an immersive and engaging learning experience. Smart classrooms are used to teach a variety of courses. Executive lounges offer students a separate place to study and socialize. The campus also boasts a writing center established to help students with their academic and creative writing. 

FCCU’s campus provides free wi-fi access to all students. Coupled with computer labs, students are fully equipped to study, do research, and work on their assignments across the campus. 

Extracurricular Activities

There are over 35 clubs and societies so each student can find an extracurricular activity to find their interests. This includes:

• Debate society 
• Earth watch 
• Track clubs 
• The leadership forum
• Young entrepreneurial platform
• The photography society 
• Music society 
• Foreign language clubs
• Dramatics and performing arts

FCCU also has an active sports department featuring intramural sports competitions in: 

• Basketball
• Badminton
• Table tennis
• Football
• Handball
• Cricket
• Hockey
• Tennis

Athletes can use various campus facilities, including an eight-lane grass track, a football field, cricket field, handball court, hockey field, six tennis courts, a basketball court, four badminton courts, a table tennis hall, and a community wellness gym.

Other Campus Features

As a university, FCCU is concerned with teaching values and building strong positive character traits and discipline in its students. For Christian students, a weekly chapel service is offered on Friday. For Muslim students, there are two mosques on campus, and Friday prayers are offered at the main mosque. No classes are scheduled during Friday prayer or chapel times. 

The university operates emergency first response services through the Mercy Health Center, an on-campus facility equipped for the routine medical needs of the campus community. The campus counseling center is situated on the top floor of the Mercy Health Center. Its core functions are to build therapeutic relationships and provide a physical and emotional space to the community.

The Light of Hope School is an on-campus facility designed to provide quality education to about 200 underprivileged children whose parents are working as support staff. The school has state-of-the-art classrooms and activity grounds 

The campus’ botanical garden features various plants and trees, which the Department of Environmental Sciences and Biological Sciences uses for research. 

I am Simon, and I am doing a Baccalaureate in Education, with Psychology as a minor at FCCU.

I have five siblings and all of them are studying at different levels in schools and colleges. My father is the earning head of my family, he had been serving in the PAK ARMY and recently retired.

After college I had to choose a university for me, seeing as FCCU is a Christian institution and has a rich history of excellence, I applied for admission here. I am the first person in my family to attend a university.

I applied for financial aid at FCCU because it was difficult for my family to bear all my educational and living expenses. The Financial Aid Office helped me to continue my studies despite the financial constraints by supporting me financially with my tuition fee.

Not only financial support but FCCU also provided me with a supportive and holistic campus environment which enabled me to thrive not only in academics but in extra-curricular activities as well.

I have been living in an on-campus hostel since the start of my university career and for me, FCCU is not an institution but my second home. It is a community of loving, supportive, and welcoming people who welcome students from diverse backgrounds irrespective of their religion, race, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. FCCU helped me academically, financially, and socially, and made me continue my studies unhindered.

With this formidable environment, I was able to maintain an exceptional CGPA due to which my name was listed in the Vice Rector’s List three times in my four semesters. I rendered my services in different positions as a Media Manager, Workshop Coordinator, Director Management, and Host, in different FCCU societies. I am also a part of the Athletic team.

Moreover, the rising inflation has affected both my family and me, resulting in increased educational expenses and the rising costs of essential items. To cope with these challenges, we’ve had to tighten our budget and make sacrifices to meet our basic needs.

Being a student from an underprivileged background, I have witnessed several challenges that students face in the field of education. This experience led me to choose Education as the major of my degree so that I can contribute to the education system of Pakistan efficiently. I got to know about challenges in the educational curriculum, policies, and structural problems within the educational system of Pakistan and the potential solutions to them. The faculty of the department of education is highly qualified and expert in their field, the teachers always guide and assist students in every way possible. The most interesting part of my education program is the project-based learning experiences, collaborative activities, and hands-on practice of teaching techniques.

In addition to the subject knowledge, I learned the skills pertinent to my major and gained valuable opportunities for personal development and growth by reading books, participating in activities, and interacting with my instructors and peers. In the future I intend to work for the education system of Pakistan, bringing reforms to educational policies and making education accessible for everyone. I intend to work for the students’ facing challenges in their educational voyage, helping them at institutional, academic, and financial levels so that they excel in their careers and contribute towards making a literate, civilized society.

For our donors: You are the true embodiment of FCCU’s motto “By love serve one another”. Your support has made many dreams materialize. Because of your support, I have been able to pursue my education with dedication and focus. Your generosity has had a huge impact on my life, and I am truly thankful for the opportunities it has provided me with. It has relieved a significant financial burden, allowing me to fully engage in studies and extracurricular activities. As a result, I have made significant academic progress, achieving grades and accomplishments that would have been far more challenging without your help. I want you to know that your investment in education is not taken lightly and it motivates me to strive for excellence. I promise you to make the most of this opportunity and one day, pay it forward to help others achieve their educational dreams just as you have done for me.

Written by by Dr. Jonathan Addleton – FCCU Rector

Quality control and accreditation are both very much on my mind this summer. In this regard, Dr. Nayer as Registrar attended the annual International Network for Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education (INQAAHE) conference, this year held in Romania. Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) also presented at the conference, drawing in part on Forman’s external accreditation experience involving the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). 

Our international partnerships continue to bear fruit. In this case that included an opportunity to attend the AMICAL Annual Conference online, focused this year on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and covering such topics Designing Engaging Courses with Generative AI; The Future of Higher Education in the Age of AI; and Essential AI Tools for Academic Integrity and Success. 

On short notice I arranged an informal lunch in my residence for two Program Associates from the American Bar Association (ABA), visiting Pakistan as part of a Rule of Law Program. Given that the focus of their program is on issues related to human rights and gender, several members of our faculty were also invited to attend, providing our visitors with a variety of useful perspectives. 

Shermeen Bano, Lecturer in Forman’s Sociology Department, reports that she will be leaving for Canada later this summer, having been offered a fully funded PhD fellowship in the Sociology Department at the University of British Columbia. According to Shermeen, “I am genuinely grateful for the opportunities and experiences I had during my time at Forman Christian College”.

As most readers of the Rector’s Update know, our US-based support group Friends of Forman plays a vital role in supporting scholarships and contributing to special projects such as the Jim Tebbe Campus Center. From time to time, Friends also provides important links to our past, with the children and grandchildren of those connected to Forman continuing to contribute in various ways. 

This month, those contributions included a gift via Friends from the grandson of Dr. F. Mowbray Velte who was an English professor at Forman nearly a century ago. His mother Marguerite Velte Hasbrouck — born in Lahore in 1933 and the daughter of Dr. Velte — was also a long-time Forman supporter, contributing to Friends until she passed away last year at the age of 90; his Aunt Lois, another of Dr. Velte’s daughters who died only last month at the age of 95, was also a long-time supporter of Forman Christian College (A Chartered University). 

Forman’s Admissions Office organized an Open House for  prospective graduate students in the Jim Tebbe Campus Center,  showcasing offerings, facilities, financial aid, and admissions criteria  at the graduate level. Most academic departments were represented as well as various support offices such as Admissions, Careers  Services, Financial Aid, and Church Relations. More than 500 students  attended from Forman and other Lahore-area universities. 

A delegation from the Pak Mission Society that numbered more than  twenty and included representatives from various churches and NGOs visited Forman, mostly to see our campus and become more  familiar with some of the support programs offered to Christian  students including admissions, financial aid, coaching classes, and the Christian Life program. 

I was privileged to attend the closing ceremony of the Khushali  (“Prosperity”) Program, a pioneering partnership involving Forman and the Center for Law and Justice (CLJ), along with the French Embassy, British Council, and University of Lancaster, among others. The Speaker of the Punjab Assembly also attended. The 30 female graduates, all daughters of sanitation workers, wore “caps and gowns” to the ceremony, providing a graduation experience that most probably never thought that they would have.

One Khushali graduate was missing from the graduation ceremony, a young seventeen- year-old selected as one of three Pakistanis to attend an annual summer youth gathering in Moscow; she had already departed for Russia from Pakistan the day before. However, her proud family were present to collect her graduation certificate. Forman graduate Mary Gill from CLJ and her team played a key role in organizing this inspiring program. 

We were once again pleased to provide a venue for the Pakistan Bible Society’s annual Summer Sports Festival. This year, the program started on May 31 and continued through June 15, involving hundreds of young people participating in several sports including cricket, football, basketball, and athletics. 

Written by by Dr. Jonathan Addleton – FCCU Rector

Despite the extreme heat, we welcomed many visitors and hosted various academic, student, outreach, and other activities on campus.

For example, the Mass Communication Department hosted a two-day “Regional Hub” event on June 20-21 funded by the International Communication Association (ICA) and organized around the theme Communication and Global Human Rights. Dr. Firasat Jabeen and her colleagues did a wonderful job in inviting speakers from across Pakistan and beyond, with some participating on-line and others joining in person from universities in Punjab, Sindh, KPK, and Balochistan. This is the first time an ICA event has been held in Pakistan, paving the way for the even larger regional ICA conference that Forman will host in early December.

Similarly, Forman’s Computer Science Department held its annual Computer Science Senior Projects Exhibition (COMSPEX) in early June, featuring more than 20 projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many from the IT industry attended including representatives from TKXEL, Devsinc, Venturenox, and Khazana Enterprises, among others. Omair Ahmed, Saad Yasin and Ahmad Tariq were awarded “Best Senior Project in the Applications Category” for their project IntelliRoads: Next-Gen Traffic Management System for the Cities of Tomorrow, supervised by Dr. Muhammad Haroon Shakeel.

In the Research Category, the Best Senior Project Award went to Saad Muzzafar, Muhib Nadeem and Yamna Hassan for their project B-NIAS: Bi-directional Neural-Interfaced Automation Symbiosis. As for Best Poster, that award went to Hamaz Ahmed, Subhan Wasif and Maheen Khurram for their project Thought Visualization Using LLMs.

The COMSPEX event was well covered in the local media including the Lahore Rang morning television show:

In a similar vein, students enrolled in the Communication Campaign Design course offered by Forman’s Mass Communication Department were invited to ARY News/Hum TV to discuss their class project; supervised by Assistant Professor Dr. Syed Saqib. It was titled Digital Detox and focused on electronic waste management. Beyond electronic waste management, other topics covered during the Communication Campaign Design course, all organized around the UN SDGs, included nutrition for pregnant and lactating women; breaking gender stereotypes; environmental outreach; and combatting drug use, among other concerns.

Finally, let me conclude this month’s Rector’s Update with a “Fun Fact,” targeted especially on those members of the Forman community who might have seen the recent movie Oppenheimer which won several major awards including an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Picture.

While regarded as historically accurate for the most part, there is one scene that does not stick to the facts, namely when Oppenheimer as the “father of the atomic bomb” travels to Princeton to discuss with Einstein the possibility that a nuclear explosion might end up unleashing a chain reaction that ultimately destroys the world. Such a conversation did in fact take place. However, it did not involve Oppenheimer traveling to Princeton to meet Einstein, rather it involved Oppenheimer traveling to a vacation cabin on Lake Michigan to meet Forman’s Nobel Laureate Arthur Compton where he posed the fateful question!

Compton subsequently worked on the Manhattan project and later became President of Washington University in St. Louis, even as his brother Karl became president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and his other brother Wilson became President of Washington State University.

As it happens, the fourth Compton sibling Mary (widely viewed as the most brilliant of the four Compton children) married Forman Psychology Professor C. Herbert Rice who became Principal of Forman Christian College; it was this connection that ultimately brought Arthur Compton to Lahore where he taught for one year as a Guggenheim Fellow (1926-1927) at both Forman Christian College and Government College. After Pakistan’s independence, Compton visited Lahore (and presumably also Forman) at least twice, suggesting that his associations with Forman lasted several decades.

Written by by Dr. Jonathan Addleton – FCCU Rector

I joined with others from Forman’s Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) to celebrate the numerous CLT programs organized during 2023 as well as to honor the various experts who made these training sessions possible. While many of the 3,200 people who participated in CLT programs last year were from Forman, CLT also reached out via Zoom to individuals from 85 universities spread across Pakistan and another 20 institutions of higher learning situated outside the country.

Also, CLT secured its first international research grant, having been awarded funding for a 12-month project on diversity, equity and inclusion from the Professional and Organizational Development in Higher Education.

In addition, CLT organized an online course titled Shaping the Future of Education: AI Across Campus, starting with an initial webinar titled Demystifying AI for Educators on May 13 that attracted more than 1,000 registrations from across Pakistan and beyond. Several international speakers from Egypt, Armenia, Malaysia, Australia and the UK participated via Zoom.

UK-based AI expert Ali Chaudhry led an on-line session on AI: Charting through Ethical Dilemmas, Equity and More, a talk that in this case attracted more than 1,200 registrations from around the world. Yet another AI-related webinar was organized by CLT during May, this one titled Crafting Effective Prompts and led by AI expert Danny Liu calling in from the University of Sydney in Australia.

Looking ahead, some readers of this newsletter may wish to enroll in CLT’s free online course on Research Methodology. Consisting of 20 separate webinars, the course is scheduled to commence on June 3. Please note that there is a single registration for all sessions: Registration Form.

Finally, I am pleased to note that Dr. Mehwish Raza has been appointed Deputy Head of CLT. A member of the FCCU community since 2019, she served as Dean of the Faculty of Education from 2020 until early 2023, after which she was a Fulbright Scholar at Arizona State University where she developed a framework for advancing digital competency for faculty in higher education.

Written by by Dr. Jonathan Addleton – FCCU Rector

Forman’s Department of Psychology launched its First International Conference on Psychology focused on “Innovative, Futuristic and Ethical Practices in Psychology”, setting the stage for three days of presentations and discussions involving dozens of original papers. As Vice Rector Dr. Douglas Trimble noted in his introduction to the conference, psychology has long been taught at Forman. In fact, this year marks a special milestone — the 100th anniversary of Forman’s offering Bachelor degrees in the discipline.

Not surprisingly, an event of this size and magnitude involves a large core committee that included Dr. Ivan Suneel (Department Head) and Dr. Sarah Shahed (Conference Secretary) as well as Dr. Abia Nazim, Dr. Afshi Khan, Aisha Ateeq, Dr. Elizabeth Schwaiger, Nazia Asif, Rehan Sohail, Dr. Saima Majeed, Umer Chaudhry and Dr. Uzma Ashiq. Other faculty and staff who worked hard to make the conference happen include Easha Shahid, Mahnoor Ali, Khola Tahir, Alina Sajid, Dr. Shaista Jabeen and Haroon Sabir.

Separate from the conference, the Psychology Department organized a program titled Breaking Stigmas: Raising Awareness About Mental Health that featured videos prepared by undergraduates to shed light on the realities of mental health concerns while also encouraging a culture of openness and acceptance.

Somewhat related, Forman’s Campus Counseling Center introduced a series of Group Therapy sessions on May 13 to address Anxiety Management and Emotional Regulation concerns. As described by the organizers, such sessions “provide a supportive environment where participants can share their personal growth experiences, gain valuable insight, and learn coping strategies from both professional facilitators and peers facing similar challenges”.

Forman’s Department of Mass Communication sponsored several events in May that further highlighted our continuing and very productive partnership with Metropolitan University in Oslo, Norway. In particular, this included a Journalists Safety Training Workshop and a Climate Journalism Workshop to which faculty and students from other universities were also invited.

Forman’s Geography Department sponsored a talk on May 15 on Changing Climate and its Impact on Tourism delivered by Yasir Usman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Government College University. Also, on May 6 the department organized an introductory talk on Geospatial Technology featuring Ahsan Iqbal. Finally, the Geography Department arranged for an interactive session on Air Quality facilitated by Dr. Sahar Zia, Assistant Professor at the Lahore College for Women University.

Forman’s Earth Watch Club organized a seminar on May 24 titled Breaking Ground on Sustainability: The Cement Industry’s Role in Decarbonization with Dr. Arif Bashir from DG Cement serving as guest speaker.

Forman’s Benade Physics Society hosted a talk on NASA’s Artemis program titled Return to the Moon and Onwards to Mars delivered by Mansoor Ahmed, recently retired from the Goddard Space Flight Center where he served as Associate Director in the Astrophysics Projects Division.

Forman’s English Department hosted several events including a series of lectures on Science Fiction that concluded with Dr. Sobia Kiran from York University in Canada speaking on the Origins and Evolution of South Asian Science Fiction. More than 200 people participated including many who joined online from other universities in Pakistan, India, Spain, Turkey and the UK.

Another highlight was the Third Annual Forman Literary Festival, hosted by the Ewing English Society and held on May 8-9. As Forman’s Dean of Humanities Dr. Altaf Ullah Khan noted, “Literature gives meaning to life. It also brings the human out of us”. Let me express special thanks to the many people who made this event possible including Dr. Fatima Syeda as well as Ewing English Society President Mr. Irfan, Vice President Mr. Umair and Faculty Advisor Naomi Justin, among others.

In addition, the Ewing English Society hosted a lecture by Dr. Ayesha Jalal on May 23 titled History and Literary Imagination. I happily attended this talk, in part because Dr. Jalal is on the faculty of my alma mater, Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

Both Fiona and I participated in the Polyglot event, organized by Forman’s Center for Language Development and headed by Uzma Khan. The program included a variety of performances delivered by students and faculty in all four languages taught at Forman (French, German, Korean and Chinese). As I observed, the passages from the Qu’ran and the Bible, read at the start of the event in Arabic, English, Chinese and Korean, were especially timely, speaking directly to the occasion: “And of His signs is . . . the diversity of your languages and colors” (taken from Surah Rum) and “If I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner” (taken from I Corinthians 14)!

Forman’s School of Management in partnership with The Leadership Forum and Young Entrepreneurial Platform organized a program on Empowering Students: Paths to Financial Independence on May 13. Among other things, the seminar aimed to equip students with the knowledge and tools needed to foster financial independence and responsibility.

Associate Professor Dr. Hira Khalid from Forman’s Chemistry Department was featured on a Fulbright Women Podcast, providing an opportunity for her to reflect on her experience in the United States. Having received a Fulbright Fellowship in 2021, she was also asked to discuss her academic journey including the inspiration behind her passion for science and the challenges that she has faced as a female scientist in Pakistan: https://youtu.be/udi76yY3yxU?si=M2O_RK28dmfXWiZ5. Meanwhile, Irtifa Nasir, Assistant Professor in Forman’s School of Management, was interviewed by NEO TV on April 30.

Forman’s Population Research Center (PRC) organized a one-day workshop on data management for FCCU students on May 25 with Dr. Sharoon Hanook, Professor in the Assistant Statistics Department, serving as facilitator.

Forman’s Center for Public Policy and Governance (CPPG) hosted several outstanding programs during May including a presentation by retired General Noel Kokhar, Pakistan’s former Ambassador to Ukraine, based on his recent monograph titled National Commission for Minorities Act 2023: An Expectation for a Better Tomorrow. Former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani presided over the wellattended session as Chief Guest. Both General Kokhar and Chief Justice Jilani are Forman graduates.

CPPG also hosted the launch of Dr. Sara Rizvi Jafree’s pioneering book Social Policy for Women in Pakistan (Palgrave 2023), with Dr. Asghar Zaidi, former Vice Chancellor of Government College University, serving as Guest of Honor. A few days later, CPPG presented the launch of the latest edition of Dr. Sikandar Hayat’s book Leadership Odyssey (Oxford University Press, 2023), with Dr. Umber and Dr. Bangash serving as discussants. I was privileged to speak at both events.

Thanking you for an incredible 2023! Happy New Year, dear Friend of Forman Christian College!

Executive Director Roger Dermody shares this short video from campus for YOU.