This Graduation Ceremony has become the thirteenth in a row for graduates of Bachelor’s programs and the fifteenth for graduates of Master’s programs since EHU relocation to Vilnius.
High-level guests arrived to congratulate the university graduates: representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, including Vice-Minister Dr. Mantas Adomėnas, Ambassadors and Chargé d’Affaires of the countries of Europe and the USA, heads of representative offices of international organizations in Lithuania.
The Ceremony began with a joint performance of the student anthem “Gaudeamus Igitur”, after which EHU Rector Prof. Sergei Ignatov greeted the participants of the Ceremony: “I want to take this opportunity and sincerely thank the faculty and staff members of EHU who are with us at the Ceremony or are watching it online. For eight of the last nine months, we have been forced, like the entire academic world, to work remotely. Despite emotional exhaustion, as well as the lack of live communication, we were able to make sure that EHU’s expertise in the field of distance and interactive education methods allowed us to keep high quality of education and research”.
The Rector’s speech was continued with a touching performance by the famous Belarusian opera singer Margarita Levchuk, a former soloist of the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Belarus. During the Ceremony, she performed three compositions: “Warriors of Light”, “Bella Ciao”, “Pahonia”.
On behalf of the honorary guest of the Ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Dr. Mantas Adomėnas addressed the guests and members of the University community: “In the light of the ongoing repressions it is of paramount importance to strengthen this University and to mobilize the international funding available to the EHU. Belarusian nation does deserve to have an academic institution even though in exile where academic freedom is respected. Supporting university education is a long-term investment to the future generation of Belarus”.
Also during the Ceremony, Berend De Groot addressed the graduates with a congratulatory speech on behalf of the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Ambassador Dirk Schuebel: “Become an Ambassador. An Ambassador of the European Humanities University. Promote the virtue of your Alma mater. See the potentials for future generations: what you have seen here but also what it can become”.
During the Ceremony, for the ninth time, the results of the voting for the Distinguished Alumni Award were announced. This year, the award went to Mikalai Dziadok, an alumnus of the Bachelor’s program in “World Politics and Economics”, class 2019. Mikalai Dziadok is a public and political figure, blogger, journalist, winner of several awards, actively and honestly expressing his civic position. The award for Mikalai was received by his friend since Mikalai himself could not attend the Ceremony: he is a political prisoner.
The title of the best graduate of the EHU Bachelor’s studies was awarded to the graduate of the program “World Politics and Economics” Tsimafei Misiukevich, who congratulated the graduates not only on his own behalf but also on behalf of the Students’ Union of the University.
The title of the best graduate of the EHU Master’s studies was awarded to the graduate of the “Cultural Heritage Development” program Svetlana Kondratyeva. She addressed all the participants of the Ceremony via online call.
Along with the rest of the graduates, Sofia Sapega, a graduate of the “International Law and EU Law” program, should have received her diploma, but she could not do it. Sofia Sapega is a political prisoner. Sofia’s parents greeted other graduates via online call. The community of the University expresses its gratitude to Sofia’s parents for finding the strength to take part in the Ceremony, despite all the worries and pain about the unfair situation in which their daughter is.
Due to external circumstances, not all graduates were able to attend the Graduation Ceremony, but they were able to join the online broadcast of the Ceremony, the recording of which is available below:
Since the moment EHU was forced to move from Minsk to Vilnius in 2005, 2692 graduates received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at EHU. According to the results of an independent sociological survey conducted by Satio (Civitta group), 67% of graduates return to Belarus after graduating from EHU.
