Cairo University opens candidacy for new president

CAIRO – 2 May 2017: Candidate registration for the presidency of Cairo University opens May 6, the committee in charge of selecting public university heads announced Monday.

The registration phase extends to May 11 and the final list of candidates is set to be announced on May 15, the committee stated.

Cairo University's current president, Gaber Nassar, has been in office since 2013; he has repeatedly announced he would not be running for a second period once his first term comes to an end.

Nassar's four years term has experienced a wide range of controversies sparked by a series of critical, and sometimes very sensitive, decisions.

In 2015, the university decided to ban all academic staff from wearing face veils (also known as niqab); the decision was challenged through a lawsuit filed by 77 female faculty members and it was eventually upheld by Egypt's Administrative Court in January 2016.

Another bold decision that gained the attention of local and international media was striking off religious classification from all official documents and certificates related to the university, in what Nassar explained as an attempt to eliminate any kind of discrimination among students.

Cairo University currently enrolls over quarter of a million students, making it one of the largest higher education institutions in the world in terms of total enrollment.

The committee is expected to provide the final reports on the candidates on May 18.