Students returned to classes at Damascus University in Syria on Sunday, December 15, as the new leadership reopened educational facilities following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.Video captured by Syrian video journalist Obada Jbara shows students gathering at Damascus University and conducting a prayer.Other footage widely circulating on social media showed students toppling and dragging a statue of Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad and former Syrian president, on campus.The president of Damascus University issued a statement on X through the university’s official page, saying the country was “facing a new phase in history,” according to machine translation.“I hope it will be full of goodness. I assure our students and their families that the educational process will continue, and the deans and teaching staff have been directed to exercise their paternal and cognitive roles,” he wrote.“The university will continue its role in preserving the gains and rights of our students.” Credit: Obada Jbara via Storyful