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On June 2, 2004 at IUB’s first graduation ceremony, 104 students were awarded the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science respectively. Additionally, three students received their Master’s degree and one his PhD. Representing 37 different nationalities, the new IUB graduates celebrated the occasion together with their parents, the IUB community, and numerous guests, amongst them keynote speaker Heinrich v. Pierer, head of Siemens AG.
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Jun
03, 2004]
The graduation ceremony commenced with the procession of the graduating class and their professors into the festively decorated sports hall on the IUB campus. In his welcome note IUB president Fritz Schaumann emphasized how exciting the period of building an international and intercultural community was: “Seeing how young people of many different nations created a common spirit of IUB will be one of my most valuable experiences forever.”
The students Vera Kahlenberg and Benny Mwale addressed the festive gathering as representatives of the graduating class. Both highlighted »the breaking of new ground« as one of their central and most valuable experiences at IUB. »I suppose what defines us all is that we are explorers,« 21-year-old Benny Mwale from Zambia said. »We chose to explore the possibility of shaping a new university into what it is today, and in the process, it shaped us.« Vera Kahlenberg from Germany, 24, described life on the IUB Campus as a »fascinating microcosm« well worth experiencing. She especially appreciated the professors’ dedication to shape life on campus: »They inspired us by being open-minded, by appreciating originality, and by expecting the same from us.«
Dr. Heinrich von Pierer, Chairman of the Managing Board of Siemens AG, gave the keynote speech at IUB’s first graduation ceremony. He stressed that »world-class education is the decisive element in keeping a country competitive in the global economy.« He emphasized the importance of attracting international students to Germany. »They enrich our own culture and lives. And they form valuable life-long ties with Germany when they return home.« Von Pierer announced that Siemens will donate one scholarship to the new class arriving at IUB this fall.
After both the Dean of the School of Engineering and Science, Prof. Gerhard Haerendel, and Prof. Max Kaase, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, saluted the graduating students with their congratulatory notes, Dr. Thomas J. Hochstettler, Vice President for Academic Affairs, addressed the audience with his official introduction of the »Class of 2004«. Together with IUB’s president and the two deans he presented each of the graduates with their certificate. Prof. Reimar Lüst, chairman of IUB’s board of governors and major supporter and master mind of IUB’s set up, concluded the »historical« occasion of IUB’s first graduation ceremony.
Seven young jazz musicians, graduates of the Essen musical academy Folkwang Hochschule, provided musical highlights during the ceremony. On the initiative of their professor, the internationally renowned Bremen jazz trumpeter Ulrich Beckerhoff, they especially had formed a jazz ensemble on the occasion of IUB’s first graduation ceremony. The ensemble’s performances wove a connecting thread through the agenda of the ceremony.
During the ceremony Fritz Schaumann received the architectural blueprint of a sundial, the so-called »IUB-Rocks – Monument to the Pioneer Spirit«, presented to him as a gift from the »Class of 2004« to IUB by the new alumni Bilyana Gueorguieva and Uros Urosevic. The IUB Rocks monument, designed by students, is meant to represent the combined efforts of both, students and staff, to build this new university together and make it work. The sundial’s special feature will be it’s gnomon: Fashioned as a steel container with a show –glass, it is intended to be filled over time with rocks from all over the world by newly arriving IUB students. The actual sundial, 1.5 m in height, will be erected in front of IUB’s Campus Center. »IUB Rocks« had been the motto of a creative student protest initiative during the university’s first year, when students built a makeshift path on the campus from their colleges to the seminar rooms out of rocks, they had found on the premises, where no such path had been intended to be. Later on IUB’s administration replaced this temporary path with a properly paved one.
The plans of the “Class of 2004”, who received their certificates during today’s ceremony are taking shape: Many students, who want to continue studying at graduate schools are already admitted to universities, amongst these Cambridge University, University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Columbia University, and Rice University. 18 are admitted to graduate programs at IUB. A sizeable portion of the “class of 2004”, some 20 %, have already landed attractive positions, traineeships, or internships, many of them within Bremen or Northern Germany. Over half of the graduates who are seeking jobs want to stay in Germany. The remainder will be seeking positions when they return to their homelands or to other countries. As the new graduates are about to spread all over the globe but still want to stay in touch with their Alma Mater as well as their fellow students after their time at IUB an IUB Alumni Association was founded on May 30, 2004 by the first graduating class of IUB.
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Graduation Photo Impressions |
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Graduation speakers at a glance
(from l. to r.):
Dr. Thomas J. Hochstettler,
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Vera Kahlenberg,
'Class of 2004' student
Dr. Fritz Schaumann, IUB President
Dr. Heinrich v. Pierer, Chairman of the Managing Board of Siemens AG
Prof. Dr. Reimar Lüst, Chairman of the IUB Board of Governors
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Haerendel, Dean of the School of Engineering and Science
Benny Mwale,
'Class of 2004' student
Prof. Dr. Max Kaase, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Dr. Heinrich v. Pierer, keynote speaker at IUB's first graduation ceremony
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Premiere: The first graduates of IUB receive their certificates
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