AUC allows currently enrolled niqabi students to enter campus normally until graduation
AUC okay with niqab — for now. The American University in Cairo (AUC) has agreed to allow currently enrolled students who wear the niqab to enter campus until they complete their education, AUC President Francis Ricciardone said in a Sunday statement. Several students complained to the administration about the niqab ban, which cites “security concerns.” “The identity of all persons on campus and AUC-operated transportation must be immediately apparent … the Provost and Dean of Students are meeting with [affected students] to arrange reasonable accommodations that will permit them to complete their courses of study at AUC,” the statement reads. The decision is a partial backtrack on an update to the university’s campus access policy (pdf) stipulating that all individuals seeking access to AUC or using its transportation service must have their faces visible at all times. The ban could be reimposed at the start of the new academic year, AUC Communications Officer Rehab Saad said, Egypt Independent reports.