With Youth on Phoenician Shores

The desert-riding Jeep with four-wheel brakes ground its way noisily up the side of the Lebanese Mountains on the rocky pass from Beirut, capital of the Lebanon. At the top hangs the hamlet of Ainab. As the mourning dove flies, it is only 15 kilometers day in straight line, but as this pass curves and winds, up, up, and up, the distance traveled is nearer 48 kilometers. On a sunny day in September 1943 a colonel in the U. S. Army and I paid a call upon Leslie Leavitt '16 and his charming wife and family As our Jeep came to a welcome stop, the first consternation of our hosts about this "invasion" spread to broad smiles when they recognized us, and then what a cordial welcome they gave us!

After greetings, we stood stock still absorbed by the view from this mountain top. Below stretched the Mediterranean in one vast sweep of blue. We had never seen anythin" like it before. Obviously this was Inspiration Point where Leavitt could sit in complete quiet to ponder and plan his work.

Leslie W. Leavitt, after graduation from Dartmouth in 1916, proceeded immediately to his new assignment with the American University in Beirut. The first status of this institution was that of a Christian missionary. It soon grew into a full-scale _ college due to its continuous fine leadership. The basic concept of missionary still obtains but the alchemy of its type of education presents the American way of doing things and the American Code of Good Sportsmanship. Under Leavitt's aegis, that spirit lived on, more vital than ever. He remained at his post all through World War I and the following days of the depression of 1929. The threatening clouds and the subsequent events of World War II added trials and burdens almost swamping the administration. Yet, A.U.B. carried on, held its course and remained one haven of stability and sane views. For another 15 years after the war Leavitt continued now as Principal of the International College and contributed to the prestige and true values of the University. In 1960 came his well-earned retirement. Repatriation began in a charming home in Wellesley, Mass., where he still carries on his work in other dimensions.

Few Dartmouth men have had comparable experiences. John Ledyard sailed his canoe down the Connecticut River to explore distant places. Leslie Leavitt made his place in the Near East to explore and mold the minds of youth. His story is epic. Here was a Yankee New Englander who elected and prepared to communicate with and serve the Arab. From his first contact with these people, he recognized the kama and sensitiveness of these charming youngsters. When undisturbed they have a gentle courtesy and quiet patience not found in the hurly-burly of western youth. Into this locale Leavitt was to project the knowledge, character, and substance of Americanism.

There is no textbook on "How to Teach the Arab." He would probably say that the westerner could teach him little or nothing. Today the thinking native agrees that the contraction of the world's social circumference has forced him to face up to the new conditions. He has accepted the challenge and many western ways, especially American. Leslie W. Leavitt's reminiscences entitled With Youth on Phoenician Shores may prove to be such a textbook. This little "classic" is rich in practical knowledge and basic wisdom. The vital part is how he won over Arab students from the start. His competence was owing to his dedication to the art of teaching and his instinctive missionary zeal. Though not ostentatious this zeal was always present.

To communicate, Leavitt spent tedious hours learning Arabic. He speaks, reads, and writes fluently this difficult and complex language. I have been told that Leavitt and the late Kermit Roosevelt, the youngest son of President Roosevelt, are two of only a very few Americans who have mastered the Arabic language.

Leavitt's genius to speak the language correctly was not his main talent in his relations with Arab youth and parents. He recognized the mental bridge connecting the mind of the East with the mind of the West. He set himself to qualify to cross and recross this bridge. His achievements attest his success. Students who matriculate at A.U.B. come from the best Arabic families; many, of royal lineage. The average lineage is very old. Blood lines are pure, undiluted by the Norman, the Nordic, the Anglo-Saxon and other strains. The result is unique. An Arab is comparable to a delicate and finely tuned instrument. I would use the word "temperamental" to describe him, but it may not be either accurate or appropriate. He is utterly unlike a "rugged" American and his tendency to be a "hail-fellow-well-met." One never errs in treating from the start every Arab as a Prince Ahmed Abdullah.

Leavitt never lost sight of these differences. He must never fracture the image the natives had of him. He adopted a formal attitude until acquaintance ripened into a deep and respected friendship. The main objective from the start between instructor and student was a mutual respect achieved by courtesy and infinite patience. In this regard, Leavitt's Phoenician Shores is a useful vade mecum. It is a "how" book. It describes how he schooled himself for the post; how he cultivated the instinctive "sympatica" which won over each student and made him a personal friend.

The situation at the American University at Beirut was an exciting challenge to every newly arrived instructor, whether from America, France, or Great Britain. Relationship between instructor and student came weekly under discussion. Problems of ethics and deportment were of much more concern here than in any western school, and they were always unique. The book describes how the faculty met and handled them. Chapter Five is especially practical. It lists actual problems as they arose under the caption "Possible Decisions" and explains the different possible steps available to take to solve them. The section "Decisions Taken" describes in each case the right action taken to solve the problem. This makes for thrilling reading. We hear about the "Ugly American" around the world, but such service in true and workable Americanism at Beirut under Leslie Leavitt certainly elevates American prestige.

This profile will conclude by quoting the last paragraph in the book: "I cannot express the pride that my wife and I felt not so long ago when we attended two meetings at the United Nations in New York. On the floor and taking a prominent part in the proceedings were seven of our International and A.U.B. graduates ... six of Ambassadorial rank ... from Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Republic, and Saudi Arabia. Then, as we were leaving the building we were greeted by an eighth, the Iranian Consul-General in San Francisco who, as a Representative of U.N., was on his way to help supervise the elections in a new African state."

Leslie Leavitt '16 helps a student.