BZU Celebrates the 37th Cohort of University Graduates

On 18-19 May 2012, BZU celebrated the
graduation of the 37th cohort of Birzeit University graduates. The
ceremony was attended by the Representative of the Palestinian President, Mr. Hussein
al-Araj; Minister of Education, Ms. Lamis al-Alami; Chairman of BZU Board of
Trustees, Dr. Hanna Nasir; BZU President, Dr. Khalil Hindi; members of the
Board and the University Council, as well as faculty members and a number of
Palestinian notables.

[url=/files/la/23534/5454][img]http://www.birzeit.edu/files/th/23534[/img][/url]

Dr. Hindi directed his speech to the
graduates stating: "No doubt that the knowledge you have acquired and
experiences you have accumulated will pave the way for success. To be honest
with you, success will not be easy, and you should work hard and be truthful to
reach the highest ranks.”

He added: "As you look around, you
find that BZU graduates are occupying leading positions in education, politics,
economics and civil society. I fully believe
that our University is a school of excellence in leadership. It is not a coincidence
that more than one third of the ministers of our new government are members of the
BZU family.”

Talking about the 37th
cohort of graduates, Dr. Hindi noted that the number of
graduates has reached 2,005 students, out of which 1267 are females and 738 are
males. He expressed his pride at so many
female graduates with the quote: “When you educate a man, you educate a single
person; when you educate a woman, you educate a whole generation.”

[url=/files/la/23531/545][img]http://www.birzeit.edu/files/th/23531[/img][/url]

During the ceremony, Dr. Hanna Nasir
granted three friends of BZU honorary doctorate degrees: Mr. Ibrahim Daqqaq, Mr.
Ghaleb Younis and Mr. Munib al-Masri.

Engineer Daqqaq was awarded an honorary
doctorate degree in community development, for his leading role in community
work, and chairing BZU Board of Trustees for several years.

Mr. Younis was awarded an honorary
doctorate degree in business administration, for his leading role in supporting
the education sector at BZU. He donated
the building of the Faculty of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences and guided
the development of a bachelor’s program in nursing, which has graduated two cohorts
thus far.

The honorary doctorate degree in
economics and politics was granted to Mr. Munib al-Masri, for his socio-political
role in Palestine. He donated the building of the Faculty of Information
Technology building, which will be completed in few months.

On the 2nd day of
graduation, the Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Adnan Yahya declared: "BZU
has applied for the accreditation of new BA and MA programs, while the Cooperative
Education Program has been approved and will be launched at the Faculties of Commerce, Engineering, and
Information Technology.”

The Minister of Education, al-Alami, commended BZU’s academic
standards, referring to the importance of dealing with higher education as a
national priority. She talked about the obstacles facing Palestinian
universities, most importantly the financial challenges and the Israeli
occupation.

[url=/files/la/23538/5456][img]http://www.birzeit.edu/files/th/23538[/img][/url]

On the first day, BZU celebrated the
commencement of students from the Faculties of Engineering, Information
Technology, Law and Public Administration, Science, Graduate Studies, as well
as Nursing and Allied Health Professions. On the second, BZU celebrated the graduation
of students of the faculties of Arts, Commerce and
Economics, as well as Education.

To
view photos of the event, please visit:

[url=http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.381083485260158.79887.129221627...

[url=/files/la/23532/23443][img]http://www.birzeit.edu/files/th/23532[/img][/url]