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IC NEWSLETTER -
SPRING 2009
4
Feature
University of NY Chancellor, Henry MacCracken and his wife
were alarmed at the telegram that they had received. Their
youngest son, Henry Jr, had come down with typhoid fever.
They wanted to go to him. The New York Times assured
readers that the 1903 commencement will be held
nevertheless and will be presided by the vice president of the
university. The couple immediately set sail hoping to reach
Beirut by June. Henry Jr had taken on an assignment three
years earlier teaching English at the Prep school of the Syrian
Protestant College (SPC). Judging by the frail hand written
minutes filed away at the AUB library archives, the young
Henry was highly involved in many aspects of the school
and seemed very dedicated to his work. His illness, however,
forced him to return mid semester to the US.
His brief time in Beirut was eventually shelved away – with it
the legacy that he left behind. The Syrian Protestant College
soon became the American University of Beirut and its Prep
School became the International College. MacCracken
never returned to the school but unbeknown to the
hundreds of thousands of students who passed through
IC’s doors, they sing his legacy often: the Cedar Song.
The only tell tale sign proving the authorship was found
in one of AUB’s archive boxes. It’s a little thin booklet
printed in 1903 simply titled “Songs of the Protestant
College”. On the third page, is the Cedar Song hailing
the SPC. In small print underneath is “H.N. MacCracken”.
According to other documents at the archives, Henry
Noble MacCraken was also the author of the last two
verses of AUB’s Alma mater (although the full credit
of the entire song was given to L.H. Miller in the song
book). In the late 1950’s, the Prep School became the
International College and inherited the Cedar Song.
“Ever live our SPC” was duly changed to “ever live AUB”
(it was later changed to IC).
The melody remained the same and believed to have
been adapted from an already existing composition.
As for Henry MacCracken, he recovered from typhoid
and went on to become the president of the then all-
women college, Vassar University. His modern views
revamped the entire university. He strongly believed that
courses offered to womenmust link their undergraduate
training with post-graduate professions. He encouraged
innovative approaches to learningandheeased the then
severe codes of social conduct and behavior. Hemade it
his personal mission to make Vassar students “citizens of
the world.” His methods and educational experiments
affected many US universities who followed his lead.
In his obituary, theNewYorkTimes in 1970,
hailed MacCracken for his pioneering
efforts in “the fight to abolish academic
formalism.”
As for IC, MacCracken’s legacy remains
engraved in the Cedar Song which he
wrote for the institution that first launched
his successful career.
Ced r
Song