Baghdad College - 1980s To Present

1980s To Present

During the 1980s, both Qusay and Uday Hussein, sons of Iraq's ruler, Saddam Hussein, attended the school, each terrorizing students and staff and flouting the school's strict rules. In an interview with the New York Times, school headmaster Yacob Yusef noted of the two brothers: "Qusay was very stupid; he got a 4 percent on one of his midterm examinations. Uday was smarter, sometimes the teachers would answer the questions for him." Omar al-Tikriti, son of Iraqi secret service leader Sabawi al-Tikriti, ran for student representative. When he received only two votes, his bodyguards beat the winner, leaving him paralyzed. All students were required to attend classes on Saddam Hussein.

In late 1993, Uday Hussein appointed himself as the school's president and immediately relieved the headmaster, Qutaiba Al-Durubi, from his duties. The plan was to restore the school to its pre-nationalization status, beginning with the appointments of Laith Al-Qassab, Muwaffak Al-Sam'ani, and Farid Arseen as Dean, Assistant Dean for Science Affairs, and Assistant Dean for Students Affairs, respectively.

In the summer of 1994, more than 70 students and teachers were forced to trensfer to other schools by an executive order from Saddam Hussein's Presidential Office. Among those forced out were Kurds and Turkmen and some who had non-Iraqi nationalities. The students and teachers were unable to complain or even mention the action in public, and it was not mentioned in the papers or on television news. The move was part of a plan by Muwaffak Al-Sam'ani, a graduate of both Baghdad College and Al-Hikma University and a professor at Al-Hikma University for several years during the 1960s, to restore the school's prestige. All scientific subjects were converted to the English language, some additional curricula were added, and the best teachers in the country were more or less forced to transfer to Baghdad College. Many of the original Jesuit-era traditions were restored including Al-Iraqi, the school's once famous yearbook.