Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) has announced that six graduating students from the Class of 2016 have received Latin honors, which are awarded to students who have achieved the highest academic standing.
The class valedictorian and highest-ranked student, Layan Amin Abdul-Shkoor, is accorded summa cum laude. Receiving magna cum laude recognition are Syed Owais Ali and Tamador Mohammed Al-Sulaiti. Three graduates, Alya Hilal Ahmed Al Harthy, James Thomas Copplestone-Farmer, and Malak Ahmed Monir are designated as cum laude.
“Each of these students compiled an enviable record of academic achievement in their designated major and in humanities and social science courses across the curriculum. They have achieved excellence in formal course work and by completing research projects and demonstrating proficiency in journalistic writing, strategic communication, and/or film studies,” said Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO of NU-Q.
“These students represent a rising trajectory of academic performance in a school that gets more competitive each year,” said the Dean.
Northwestern graduated its largest class on May 1 with 41 students representing 14 countries. In addition to Latin honors, 10 students in the Class of 2016 achieved academic honors by being named to the Dean’s List between five and seven times during their studies at NU-Q.
The honored students and their classmates heard famed journalist Lyse Doucet, chief international correspondent at the BBC, speak to the Class of 2016 where she told them to “dream big” and to tell their stories.
“Whether you choose to pursue journalism, marketing or communications, tell the story and tell it well. Tell it with passion; tell it with empathy; tell it with all the skills you have learned here at NU-Q. Be bold; be brilliant; be the best that you can be, and the better you become, the better the world will be.”
With the 2016 class, NU-Q has graduates 181 students since its first ceremony in 2012. NU-Q alumni, new and old, have notably achieved successes regionally and internationally in both media and communications industries—and in academia. Thirty-four percent of NU-Q alumni in NU-Q’s first four years, have matriculated to graduate schools, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Northwestern, Cornell, London School of Economics, and others. In addition, NU-Q graduates are pursuing careers with Al Jazeera English, beIN Sports English, Qatar Foundation, Weber Shandwick, and other media industry leaders.
