Northwestern University in Qatar welcomed its largest first-year class of 55 undergraduates during a convocation ceremony held at the Qatar National Convention Centre this week.
The Class of 2017, including 22 Qataris, was welcomed into the Wildcat community by dean and CEO of NU-Q Dr. Everette E. Dennis and Yara Darwish, president of the student government, in the presence of friends, family and NU-Q staff, as well as faculty and alumni.
In his charge to the incoming class Dean Dennis stressed the role of the new members of the NU-Q community in “fulfilling Qatar’s visionary plan for national development.”
“The QNV 2030 explicitly acknowledges the need for educated citizens and professionals concerned with media and communication as part of a quest to create a knowledge-based economy for this country and the region… [and] we at NU-Q are pleased to be in active support of these developments.”
The 32 communication and 23 journalism students will be receiving elite instruction from a renowned faculty at an institution that boasts more than 200,000 alumni of living individuals in whose ranks are statespersons and societal leaders.
“You will have classes you love, classes you find difficult, but you will have the opportunity to travel to places like the heart of Rio de Janeiro and the slums of India,” Darwish said to her colleagues. “Most importantly you are all part of a new media revolution happening in the region, so be sure to embrace it.”
The convocation proceedings were led by Professor Tracy Vaughn, faculty marshall, who carried the NU-Q mace, a symbol of the authority of the university. The mace, designed and produced in Qatar, is inscribed with the university seal on one side and the NU-Q logo in Arabic on the other. It blends Northwestern and Qatari traditions, as does the university itself.
