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and promote goodwill. The difference between ethical responsibility and philanthropy is that thelatter is not seen as an obligation; rather it is seen as a voluntary action and a contribution to thesociety to make it a better place (Hatten, 1997).Philanthropy is not limited to the wealthy, average citizens (individuals, institutions) can be andare philanthropic.Universities as institutions, and sometimes as businesses (private universities) are seen as bodiesacting in a socially responsive and philanthropic manner. By doing so, they assume both theirobligatory role and philanthropic goodwill (ibid).III. Why SR in Universities?A short answer would be that the world has changed in deep and challenging ways which demandthat new generations of managers and public officers take into considerations much more thanthe economic and financial performance in their decision – making, strategies and practices.Universities are where leaders of tomorrow will be formed in their understanding of the world,in the scientific frameworks they apply, and in their «coat» of values.As universities change in their values, understanding and practices, so does the practices of thefuture decision makers.Eventually, through a new professional class and their values and practice, a new culture isformed for all society.This is precisely the same reason that SR is of great social value because it changes the valuesand practices in organizations, and helps forming a new culture and starts deploying a culture ofsustainability and development (Loria, 2008).Thus a new social contract is needed in which collaboration and exchange among sectors is at theprelude of the activities of these sectors in order to face the challenges of a constrained reality.1. Higher Education and MDG 2: Universal EducationMillennium Development Goal (MDG) #2 mobilizes world leaders to ensure that, by 2015, childreneverywhere - boys and girls alike - will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling(grades 1 - 5). Universities are key institutions of civil society. They help in creating knowledge anddeveloping the skills needed to provide effective services to the community and to advice highereducation government policy. They train national citizens to become future leaders, policy-makers,scientists, teachers and other professionals who achieve and sustain the universal education goal.AUW since its inception, and for the future ahead is committed to this goal.2. The Evolution of Ahfad University for WomenAhfad University for Women (AUW) was the first non-governmental and non-profitable women’suniversity in the whole of the African and Arab region. The founder of girls’ education in Sudan(Sheikh Babiker Bedri,) lived at a time where girls and young women were nurtured towardssubjugation, domesticity, and ignorance. Having the gift of persuasion and foresight, SheikhBabiker Bedri in 1907 persuaded the society, British and local government ruling at that time andopened, in his own home, the first classroom where girls received their education. His son Prof.Yusuf Bedri, who succeeded him in 1954 continued to develop schools to be the pioneer of nongovernmental higher education in Sudan (AUW Prospectus, 2006).Yousif Badri influenced by that heritage of leadership became committed to find new ways toserve the Sudanese communities through higher education. He formed a committee of Sudanese698

scholars to help in developing a vision he outlined for disciplines that can be taught at the newcollege to serve new market needs and to create new horizons.Hence, the choice of the first two schools: one is Family Sciences with emphasize on nutritioneducation and home economics was selected as the most appropriate discipline to address thecommunities and family needs. This was the first time for this specialization to be taught withina Sudanese university.The second school is Psychology and Preschool Education. Also, it was a new specialization to beoffered to serve the market with specialists in managing and teaching in kindergartens, as well asspecialists in promoting psychological health. It is worth noting that Ahfad Kindergarten openedin 1936 was the first in Sudan to substitute the Khalwa, which is exclusively a religious pre-schoolestablishment for boys, of the age five to nine.Hence, the vision is to modernize education from childhood and to give the people prospects ofa healthy life physically and psychologically.The commitment to the different communities of Sudan, especially rural people, made YousifBadri think of a course to engage the students with rural people through their study program.Hence, the course of rural extension was introduced in 1972 to the students of family sciencesand then in 1974 became a university requirement. The fundamental mission is to create fromthose female students leaders in their societies with first-hand experience of identifying localpeople›s needs and addressing them. Moreover, graduating empowered females who haveskills to address these needs and become role models and change agents. Social change andthe training of future change agents was the vision that guided for the establishment of furtherschools, disciplines or programs. The School of Management was then opened in 1976, theSchool of Rural, Extension, Education and Development opened in 1987, School of Medicine withcommunity and problem based orientation opened in 1990, and School of Pharmacy openedin 2001. The evolution of Ahfad University for Women is characterized by the establishmentof unique units, centers, institute and postgraduate studies. The Ahfad University College forWomen was given the status of a full fledged university in May 1995 (AUW, 2008).3. Mission, Vision, Philosophy and Goalsa. MissionSince its inception AUW has a mission, which is to provide quality education for Sudanesewomen to become change agents, bridge the gender disparity in education, and participate incommunity development projects.b. VisionAUW vision is to create proactive women change agents and leaders from all parts of Sudan whocan participate actively in the development of their families and communities.c. PhilosophyThe philosophy of AUW is to prepare women to assume responsible roles in families, communities,and in the nation.d. Goals1) Prepare students and promote their skills to become leaders in diverse areas of knowledgeand intellectual spheres.2) Develop appropriate curriculum that would lead to promote the students’ analytical andcritical skills in order to contribute effectively for the improvement and enhancement ofthe Sudanese communities and people.3) Encourage scientific research in general and in women’s and gender issues in particular699

taking account of the importance of disseminating research findings through differenttools of publications, public debates, conferences and media.4) Develop outreach programs that are directly related to serve the outside communitiesparticularly in rural areas. These could be various programs of comprehensive nature forcontinual education, distant education, training, advocacy or awareness raising activitiesin a way to make the university an effective tool and seat for civic engagement withspecial focus to reach the rural communities.5) Create networking and close partnerships with the civil society, public and private sectorswhether nationally, regionally or internationally. These partnerships could be in areas ofjoint curriculum development to serve the needs of the society, state and the market aswell as contribute to the promotion of technology for services and production purposes.6) Establish good cooperation with other universities and academic or research institutesnationally, regionally and internationally in different spheres of knowledge promotionparticularly as pertaining to develop appropriate and relevant curriculum and technologythat serves the ever changing needs of Sudan (University Act, 1995).4. The Role of AUW in Achieving MDG 2a. Knowledge/Education: targeting the needy and the poorAUW seeks to reach girls between age 16 -21 and older age groups such as mature students.The university provides scholarships based for those who cannot afford to pay fees for highereducation, especially those coming from areas of conflict where women suffered doublediscrimination; from the patriarchal ideology and from the civil war and tribal conflicts. As a grouprepresenting the marginalized, AUW offers them special discretion in enrollment regulations aswell as scholarships to study in its various programs. The university makes an effort in raising fundsfrom partners to sponsor the scholarships and to convince local and state authorities to facilitatefor the students residence in Omdurman within the vicinity of the University campus. The firstcomers, coming to Ahfad from Darfur, South, and East, are considered as pioneers and receivedfull board residence at AUW campus to encourage parents to send their daughters to study atAUW. A special program was then opened to lead to a Bachelors degree in Rural Development,Extension and Education in 1986 that continued to enroll only students from disadvantagedareas, South, Nuba Mountains, Darfur, East, and Blue Nile areas. In 1998, it offered places forother students. This positive discrimination policy made AUW stand as the main university whichhas substantial numbers of graduates from these states (AUW, 2008).AUW has excelled in its affirmative action in student admission policy which has continued tocreate a diversified student population in relation to ethnicity, culture and religion representingdifferent parts of Sudan, and African countries such as Ethiopia, Eriteria, Nigeria, Comoros Island(AUW, 2005).AUW extends its education mission to reach poor urban communities and rural areas in Sudanthrough the university mandatory annual fieldtrips and family attachment projects. The outputsof these rural areas (covering 40 - 50 rural areas in Sudan) are community awareness raising anddevelopment projects. These (annually themed) projects target community problems such ashealth, sanitation, and environment, female genital mutilation (FGM), girls’ education, incomegenerating activities, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. The family attachment programis followed within the School of Medicine and is conducted by the medical students, where eachstudent is attached to a poor family to monitor the health conditions of the family until thestudent has graduated (Badri, 2005).700

Other means of reaching the grassroots is through collaboration with its outreach arms: TheBabiker Bedri Scientific Association for Women Studies (BBSAWS) and Community AnimatorsFriendly Association (CAFA). To maintain the mission of AUW in education, just to mention some,BBSAWS offered activities such as literacy classes, rehabilitation of schools, and financial supportto primary students in disadvantaged areas to continue their education (BBSAWS Report). Someof the activities undertaken by CAFA in support of disseminating information are awarenessraising programs, advocacy, and campaigns on reproductive health issues, gender-basedviolence, targeting females and males’ adolescents, youths, and the elderly (CAFA PerformanceReport 2004 - 2008).Moreover, the university in its efforts to ensure that poor children receive basic education amicro-credit project was established to provide poor women with funds to set up an incomegenerating activity to help them to pay for their children’s education (AUW, 2008).b. ResearchAUW strives to strengthen research and training capacities. Research activities are encouragedto contribute in solving some of the country’s social problems, through students› graduationresearch projects, which are guided towards tackling social issues and concerns. Social justice,gender equality and women empowerment, peace culture and conflict resolution are examplesof research projects undertaken by students. This will help integrating student and facultymembers' engagement in research projects and consultancies addressing community and socialdevelopment. The following is a sample of studies that were undertaken by AUW faculties incontribution to peace and conflict resolution, a major concern to all Sudanese communities.1) Book on “Sudan between Peace and War, IDP in Khartoum, Southern and WesternKordofan:, UNIFEM, Kenya, 1998.2) A document on “ The Initiative to Facilitate Women Participation in the Peace Process”, incollaboration with CARE international, 1999.3) Production of three training manuals, two on Peace Building and Conflict Resolution andone focusing on Peace Education within schools.4) Research Report on Darfur under Seige. AUW and Tufts University, USA.c. Women Empowerment ProjectWomen empowerment is one of Ahfad’s goals. The project has two fold objectives: one is toempower national citizens in integrating gender mainstreaming in policies, programs, andprojects. Second, to empower the powerless poor women through provision of micro-credit sothat they become self-sufficient and gain control over their lives and improve their living standardthrough regular income, as will be later explained in Section VII.IV. Civic Engagement Role of AUWThe philosophy of AUW of being community oriented and graduating potential change agentsin their local communities makes the university to be people-oriented biased towards thosedisadvantaged women to help them, through community development activities, to play acrucial role in their communities. This philosophy led AUW towards shouldering a prominent rolein civic engagement and participation as a means of achieving the University social responsibility.1. Objectives towards SR and civic engagement CEThe uniqueness of AUW in comparison to many other universities is in its commitment andsocial responsibility towards all Sudanese people through its various civic engagements being701

broadly reflected by the implementation of the various activities conducted by AUW aiming atthe following outputs (AUW Prospectus, 2006):a. “Degree requirement courses that engage the students with the communities or theformal institutions of both the public, private and international bodies”.b. “All outreach and extra curricula activities of academic, cultural and creative nature doneby staff, students and administrators using and involving all available national resourcesand international partnerships”.c. “Wide range coverage of population for its capacity building and institutional strengtheningactivities. The target population includes university students, staff, administrators, NGOs,media personnel, politicians, planners, lawyers, youth, grassroots organizations, civilservants professionals, and many others working at the public and private sectors”.d. “Production of information, education and communication (IEC) materials directed tothe local people or youth or any other special target groups for awareness raising. Also,educational materials that disseminate civic engagement activities of AUW and, thatencourage social responsibility and empowerment among the students”.e. Sponsorship to poor students and students from disadvantaged areas with free educationat AUW”.f. “Encouraging research that serves communities, the people as well as direct students torelish values of peace, social responsibility and have vision for improving quality of life.»g. To help in and/or offer Services to the public especially in remote rural areas, displacedcamps and sub-urban shanty areas”.h. “Engaging in national activities directly, or by linking to others or offering AUW spaces andstaff time to debate or celebrate national issues or figures.”i. “Activities undertaken by AUW arms, which are independently registered as NGOs andserve AUW's mission and goals and represent civic engagement activities” (AUW, 2008).2. Civic engagement policiesa. AUW policy is to adhere to principles of democratic values, equality, inclusiveness,respect to diversity, human rights and dignities, resolving conflict peacefully; allowing forthe promotion of persons potentials and respecting individual freedom within the law.b. Policies of developing curriculum that is community oriented, that allows AUW toachieve its vision, mission, goals and objectives are followed. The curriculum is alsodesigned in a way to meet international standards. Knowledge is Sudanized through casestudies, training and community outreach activities integrated in the curriculum (see fordetails university requirement courses such as rural extension course, women studies,environmental and population studies courses, see also family and field attachmentprograms and brochures of the master degree programs).c. Policies of encouraging the development of programs and projects that allow AUW tomaximize its civic engagement, also offer space to staff promotion and self education.Examples of them are projects to eradicate female genital mutilation, promotereproductive health, visionary leadership, culture of peace, and raise awareness on goodgovernance and democracy.d. Research and capacity building programs that would enhance the internationalizationobjectives as well as social responsibility achievement such as those developed withWestern universities in Norway, Holland, Germany, and Tufts or at regional level withAmerican University in Cairo (AUC), American University in Beiruit (AUB), Dar al salaam702

and Nairobi universities.e. Using the university facilities to offer services for staff, students and the neighborhood andcatchments areas within the university radius (e.g. kindergarten, primary and secondaryschools, health center, hospital, farm).f. The policy of students’ intake stipulates that tuition waiver is provided to needy studentsfrom all reigns of Sudan. Such students usually comprise about 30% of the annual intake.(AUW, 2008)3. Strategies and Mechanismsa. Reaching to all Sudanese sectors by offering diverse activities contributing to capacitybuilding and institutional strengthening.b. Instilling in students and staff the values of volunteerism and social responsibility.c. Promoting students and junior staff communication and leadership skills within class andat outreach activities.d. Enhancing students and staff potentials for maximum self-realization through offeringvarious curricula, extra-curricula, outreach activities and networking opportunities.e. Becoming actively engaged in national and international links serving Sudanese peopleand achieving AUW vision, mission and goals.f. Influencing policies, institutions and legislations to achieve a transformed society ofgender equality, overall justice and security through various advocacy programs,conferences, solidarity activism and targeted short courses and extra-curricula activities.g. Another strategy of establishing other institutionalized or informal arms that couldcontribute in AUW achieving its objectives and to be in line with its vision, mission andgoals is the establishment of NGOs such as Babiker Bedri Scientific Association for WomenStudies (BBSAWS), and Community Animators Friends Association (CAFA).V. Reflections on AUW Praxis toward Social Responsibilityand Civic EngagementThe analysis of the interviews and documents aimed at exploring the role of Ahfad Universityfor Women in social responsibility /civic engagement and how its curricula and extra-curricularactivities contribute to community development. As well as identifying the various challenges thatAUW encounters in assuming its role in civic engagement. Hence, the data from the interviews,supported by relevant documents, is analyzed into thematic categories.1. AUW Curricula: Community Oriented and Socially ResponsiveThe results of the interviews and analysis of relevant documents revealed that AUW providescommunity oriented curricula that are responsive to current and changing community needs.The curricula are a mix of learning and service provision as is explained below:a. The university has required courses to be taken by all students registered for BachelorsDegree, which include Rural Extension, Population Studies, Reproductive Health,Environmental Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Career Development, ResearchMethodology, Talents Development Skills, and Introduction to Behavioural Sciences.Issues of gender, democracy, poverty, population, and, human rights have beenintegrated into the undergraduate as well as the postgraduate courses. The aim fromthese university required courses is to instill in the students values of love, tolerance,703

cooperation, loyalty, critical thinking, altruism, and civic responsibilities. Also, to developstudents who become responsible citizens able to define their goals, needs, and to servefor achieving better life

Ahfad University for Women (AUW) was the first non-governmental and non-pro fitable women's university in the whole of the African and Arab region. The founder of girls' education in Sudan (Sheikh Babiker Bedri,) lived at a time where girls and young women were nurtured towards