All photos courtesy of Qatar University
More than 1,200 Qatar University (QU) students – the vast majority of them women – are celebrating after they graduated over two days of ceremonies held at the Qatar National Convention Center.
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was the guest of honor at the male students’ graduation on Tuesday, while his sister Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson of the Supreme Education Council, attended the female students’ ceremony yesterday.
This year’s commencements were moved forward to May because Ramadan begins next month, and were for students who graduated throughout the past academic year (2013-14), QU said in a statement.
Female majority
Women make up the majority of the student body at QU and 989 female students received their degrees from QU President Prof. Sheikha Abdulla Al-Misnad, with 28 of them honored for achieving a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 and above, which translates into at least an A- average.
Some 280 male students were awarded their certificates in the presence of Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and the Emir recognized the 32 students who earned a GPA of 3.5 and above.
This year’s ceremonies were among the largest in recent years at QU. Some 200 more students graduated this week, compared to in 2013, when 1,071 QU students celebrated their commencement.
Using the hashtag #QUGrad14, Twitter buzzed with congratulatory messages to the new Class of 2014.
With a Bachelor in my hands, I am officially a journalist #QuGrad14
— غدي أبونائب★ (@Ghadi_ao) May 21, 2014
#QUGrad14 grad this year motivated me as a student still have many days&a long journey to enjoy thanks all♥&Honors are the best! :)) #LoveQu
— هَاجرّ هِشَام (@HagarHisham2) May 21, 2014
I’m so excited about the graduation ceremony. It feels like Eid. #QUGrad14
— Amna (@amnalkaabi_) May 20, 2014
#جامعة_قطر14 Congratulations to All the Graduates! from the @coffeebeanqatar #QUGrad14
— The CoffeeBean Qatar (@coffeebeanqatar) May 20, 2014
Graduates’ details
In total, 1,125 students graduated with a Bachelors degree, 121 with a Masters, 15 students received diplomas in education and there were eight PhD students, who were all female.
QU’s largest college, the College of Arts & Sciences, graduated the most undergraduate students – 394 in total.
The College of Engineering honored the largest number of Masters students, with 42 receiving their MSc.
The first student to graduate from the College of Pharmacy’s MSc program was also honored.
Amna Al Khalfan, from the College of Law, was the valedictorian for the female students. Thanking families and academic staff and congratulating her peers, she said:
“We’ve waited for this day, endured ups and downs, and today we close this chapter in our lives and are prepared for the next phase towards a bright future.”
College of Engineering’s Faisal Hamad Shafia spoke for the male students, encouraging them to “strive for excellence in every aspect of your lives.”
Al-Misnad praised the students for their hard work and dedication throughout the years, saying:
“Qatar University continues to ensure that its academic and research environment is of a standard and quality that enriches students’ lives and motivates them to strive for excellence.
We value the importance of the student experience and spare no effort to provide them with opportunities in the classroom and in the real world to prepare them for any future endeavor.”
Congrats, all! Thoughts?
![[Getty]](https://dohanews.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1763609272-560x420.jpg)
Congratulations for all graduates!
I came across a very inspiring photo from the graduation day on QU Facebook page and I think its worth to share.
https://www.facebook.com/HumansofQatarUniversity/photos/a.722055611172293.1073741827.713010022076852/767117839999403/?type=1
Really, very inspiring.
Wow truly inspiring! An inspiration to all of us!
Alf mabrook brothers n sisters
Mabrouk to all graduates especially the young ladies. The men need to catch up as the ratio is 3 females: 1 male graduate. If this trend continues, the ladies would find difficulty choosing life partners as they would face intellectual challenges with non-graduate husbands
What about the Qataris studying abroad or those in other universities?
Why the assumption that just because someone does not hold a degree it would cause intellectual challenges. People who have other qualifications or trades or ‘on the job learnt’ jobs can be just as clever as someone who holds a degree, they can think, hold reasonable conversations, be expert at what they do, have a high I.Q and emotional intelligence–same as someone with a degree.
Agreed. However global trends suggest marriages between women and as or better educated men tend to be more common than marriages between women and less educated men.
Yes–that might be true, I just think though that we should be careful to value each person’s intellectual capacity regardless of degree or not. Lately I hear so many saying that master’s degree is a must and often the implication that someone holding a masters is in some way is intellectually superior.
Agreed, but in many places in the world marriagability is not about intellectual capacity or even love. Rather it is an economic partnership anticipating children. In some places, advanced education also means international travel which has financial and cultural implications as well.
True–but here I don’t think advanced education relates to travel–well it does of course–but I mean people have money to travel. I do agree on some level with what you saying–it is just that–I think sometimes I notice work places seem to put people down not holding Master degrees–and I feel experience is more important. I suppose that is sort of a different issue to what you saying.
Sorry I was unclear. By international travel I meant was multi-cultural experiences in a foreign country which provides an opportunity to expand ones horizons.
I’m more surprised about the percentages of A students. If my math was right, less than 3% of female students achieved an A overall, compared to over 10% of males.
It is worth pointing out the fact that the Qatari/expat ratio is vastly different between the men’s and women’s campuses, but I digress.
MubarakAllah