Beirut Arab University celebrated the launch of its 59th batch of graduates at the university’s campus in Debbieh. The total number of graduates were 1,815 from ten faculties holding bachelors, masters and PhD degrees. The university granted the honorary doctoral degrees to His Excellency Mr. Toufic Kreishan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In addition to Eng. Hani Azer, Honorary President of the “Egypt Can” Foundation in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Architect Basseem Al-Halabi, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Benchmark International in the Lebanese Republic, on the occasion of the sixty second anniversary of the university.
Mr. Mohammad Salam Al Naboulsi, Minister of Youth in Jordan, Melhem Khalaf, Member of Parliament, Dr. Ammar Houri, Chairman of the University Board, and members of the board, Prof. Amr Galal El Adawi, President of the University, faculty deans, Dr. Omar Houri, Secretary General, and a large crowd from the educational, economic, municipal, spiritual and social representatives in addition to honorees and families of graduates attended the ceremony.
The ceremony started with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, the Lebanese national anthem and the university anthem. Then, Mrs. Zina Al Ariss, Director of Public Relations and Communications, delivered a speech in which she advised the graduates, saying, "My advice to you is to listen carefully. Dear graduates of this prestigious university: Do not abandon your homeland, fly as far as you want, but remember that your homeland is a warm embrace, a tender mother and a caring father. It is true that it faces enormous difficulties, but our will to persevere in support of its salvation, its destiny and ours is glory and life.”
Then, Zeina Yassin, a graduate from the Faculty of Law and Political Science, addressed her speech to her fellow graduates: “Extraordinary circumstances create extraordinary leaders. I truly believe that each one of you is a leader. I quote: “The pessimists complain about the winds, and the optimists expect it to change, but the leader adjusts the sails.” We worked, adjusted and adapted to reach our current position. I am sure that you fell several times, yet you learned to stand on a firm ground. Dear graduate of 2022, stand where you are and do not follow the path that leads you, but you take the path that leaves the trail, the future is definitely brighter when it witnesses your perseverance, your power and your ideas
Then Professor Amr Galal El Adawi, said, “I say that life does not wait for latecomers, and there is no place in it for the hesitant and the surrender. Do not depend on current circumstances but search for opportunities in them and make your success story out of them. Let your university be a model from which you can learn the lesson of resilience.
El-Adawi continued, "In the field of education, the university has provided all the technological potentials to continue distance learning education in high efficiency through modern platforms and programs. The university has ranked first in Lebanon in the quality of education in the Times ranking for higher education. It has also obtained the renewal of institutional international accreditation for the next eight years until the year 2029. At the level of scientific research, the university was not late for its pioneering role in scientific research. Therefore, it issued six scientific periodicals. As for the level of social responsibility, the university was keen to protect its internal community with a pioneering health protection, thus it established a center that secures vaccines for everybody. Furthermore, the health care center and psychosocial unit were never late for their human and social mission. On the other hand, the university has developed the role of the Alumni and Career Center so that it continues its developmental role in preparing students.
After granting the honorary doctorate, His Excellency Toufic Kreishan said in his speech, "I am honored to stand today in the campus of this distinguished university, to express, as a Jordanian, an Arab and a human being, my honor and glory to be one of the first generation of graduates of this university. This university whose knowledge has reached to the countries of the world and has left, and still is, an honorable imprint that every graduate of the Beirut Arab University is proud of.”
Then, President of the University announced that Engineer Hani Azer was not able to come to Lebanon, and he received an honorary doctorate in a ceremony that took place at the Embassy of Lebanon in Germany. Azar said in a recorded speech, "The story of my life and my personal experience is the most precious thing that I present to you. It is a story of success and struggle, a story of learning, determination, and the desire for discovery and continuous knowledge. Success does not come by chance because success comes from within and from your determination and persistence. I say to our youth: Do not ignore challenges, do not run away from them, refuse to fail, because our nature and our roots reject failure and defeat."
Azer continued, "Honoring me today has a different flavor, despite the fact that I received many awards, but this honor motivates me to transfer my expertise and experiences to the youth of my country and the youth of our Arab nation, so thank you Beirut Arab University."
After receiving to honorary doctorate, Architect Basseem Al-Halabi said, "There is a reality that you are the pioneers of the future and you are the generation of science and knowledge, and the hope of this country. My resume is simple in comparison with what you can achieve. If I have anything to say in this ceremony is lesson I have learned in this journey, which started in this university. This ceremony is to graduate from the small university to the great university, where there will be a lesson after a lesson and application after application, failure and success, hope after another. Today the actual study has begun."
At the end of the ceremony, Professor El Adawi, President of the University, distributed the university certificates to the graduates and outstanding students who obtained Issam Houri and Jamal Abdel Nasser awards. Then the ceremony ended with fireworks.
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