Mohammed attends AUD graduation ceremony
Khaleej Times
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum conferred degrees on 300 graduates of the AmericanUniversity in Dubai (AUD) yesterday.
CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, Nazek Hariri, the Lebanese leader’s widow, and a host of local dignitaries attended the ceremony at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
AUD presented this year's Pinnacle Award to Rafik Al Hariri’s widow, who thanked the Dubai government and AUD for honouring her late husband.
AUD’s Executive Vice-President and Director of Admissions Elias Bou Saab announced the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Scholarship Programme, which will award 25 scholarships to UAE students each year. The programme was created as per the directives of Sheikh Mohammed.
300 graduate from AUD
By Meraj Rizvi
7 June 2005
DUBAI — General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister, in the presence of CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, Nazek Hariri, widow of slain Lebanese leader Rafik Al Hariri and a host of local dignitaries, conferred degrees on some 300 graduates of the American University in Dubai (AUD) at a grand convocation ceremony held at the Dubai World Trade Centre yesterday.
The Eighth Commencement ceremony which honoured graduates of the 'Class of 2005' from faculties of engineering, interior design, visual communications, information technology and business administration, was attended by over 2,000 guests comprising students, parents and AUD faculty and staff, besides the dignitaries.
Following the conferring of degrees and academic excellence awards presented to five outstanding students, AUD posthumously bestowed this year's Pinnacle Award, instituted in recognition of an individual's work, on late Rafik Al Hariri. The award was received by his widow Nazeq Hariri, who thanked the Dubai government and the university for the honour bestowed on her late husband.
Addressing the graduates, guest speaker Christiane Amanpour shared with the students her career growth at CNN spanning over 22 years, and her personal commitment to integrity and ethics in journalism. She expressed her personal belief that good journalism can be a catalyst for progress and reform and humanitarianism in society.
Winner of several international media awards and having spent years on several dangerous and challenging assignments, Amanpour said she never had an agenda, but believed in reporting without fear or favour.
"No matter what profession you choose, you must reshape and redesign your skills. You will be tested many times in your careers, but always try and use your talent for the benefit of the community," she told the graduates.
She shared some of her experiences of reporting from war zones and the challenges faced while reporting on the Gulf wars – from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 to the US bombing of Baghdad, the Kurdish refugee crisis on the Iran-Iraq border which persisted after the ceasefire and the Bosnian tragedy, among others.
Earlier, welcoming the guests and graduates, Elias Bou Saab, Executive Vice-President and Director of Admissions at AUD, announced the establishment of the Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Scholarship programme which will award 25 scholarships to UAE students every year. The scholarship programme is under the directives of General Shaikh Mohammed, he said.
Lance De Maasi, AUD President, urged the outgoing graduates to believe in the fact that education is not a destination, but a journey.
"You are an effective product of AUD, have acquired the knowledge it takes to get a job and have cultivated the spirit it takes to be successful in life," he said, pointing out that to achieve their goals, the graduates should maintain a sense of curiosity and banish indifference from their hearts.
"Understand the world you are now obligated to influence, know yourself, but also focus your attention on getting to know others, and commit yourself to citizenship," he said and expressed the belief that by virtue of being and becoming educated, AUD students are more than a tree of knowledge and a tree of hope for this emirate, this country and the world.
