CMU-Q celebrates graduation of 2020, 2021 and 2022 batches

THE Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, celebrated the graduating classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 at formal ceremonies over three nights.

Each class received their undergraduate degrees in front of an audience of family, friends, faculty members and alumni.

The ceremonies were also live-streamed to friends and family around the world.

For the classes of 2020 and 2021, formal graduation ceremonies were postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Michael Trick, dean of CMU-Q, was pleased to officially recognize the graduates in person.

“The tradition of graduation is very important at CMUQ, and I am delighted we could share this occasion with three classes of graduates. While graduation marks the end of many individual journeys, it is also a community celebration at CMU-Q of our shared vision of knowledge and progress,” he said.

The Class of 2020 includes 85 graduates, the Class of 2021 includes 92 and the Class of 2022 includes 89.

Qatari citizens make up 47 percent, 49 percent and 44 percent of the graduating classes, respectively.

Farnam Jahanian, president of Carnegie Mellon University, spoke directly to the graduates, saying: “You hold the future in your hands – not just the legacy of CMU, but the long-term trajectory of the world. Whether you studied biological sciences, business, computer science or information systems, you have each received exactly the tools you need to make extraordinary contributions to shaping our day-to-day lives and improving the human condition.”

The graduation ceremonies each featured a student speaker from that graduating class.

Dona Ferdinando spoke for the Class of 2020. “This is the story of the Class of 2020 - unique, powerful and very present. May our presence keep contributing to science and business and technology; may our presence keep leading to positive change; and may it continue to embody what it means to have our heart in the work,” she said.

The representative for the Class of 2021, Naram Hajjar said, “To my classmates, congratulations! We made it. We are making things happen. We are building the future.”

Speaking on behalf of the Class of 2022, Mubarak Al Sulaiti said, “No matter where life takes us next, I want the entire Class of 2022 to remember one thing: never stop taking chances. Each and every one of you has the potential to change the world.”

The Class of 2022 brings the total number of CMU-Q alumni to more than 1,100, and they join more than 120,000 Carnegie Mellon graduates worldwide.