The University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon (USAL) held the first graduation ceremony for its students at the Al-Saha heritage village, in the presence of the president of Al-Mabarrat Charitable Association Allama Sayyed Ali Fadlallah, the Director General of Al-Mabarrat Association Dr. Mohammad Baqer Fadlallah, representatives of universities and of educational bodies and institutions, representatives of political, syndicate and municipal bodies and of civil society institutions, alongside the members of the university's board of trustees, the university's teaching and administrative family, the graduates' families and the students being celebrated.
Ali Fadlallah
At the outset, the national anthem and the entry of the graduating students and the members of the university council, then a speech by the ceremony's presenter Dr. Leila Shamseddine. Fadlallah then delivered a speech which read: “We at Al-Mabarrat Charitable Association feel great pride with this first constellation of graduates from your esteemed university, the University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon, which we want to be on the model of this association's institutions extending throughout the homeland, which have formed a distinguished educational, scholarly, moral and human model in this country.”
He addressed the graduates, asking them to work according to two conclusions: “The first conclusion is that we should not deal with any theory in any field of the human sciences, or even in the pure sciences, as if it were the complete truth; rather we must arm ourselves with the critical mind in dealing with all the theories put forward. The second conclusion is that we should discover in these theories the scientific, human aspect, so as to work to rest upon it and develop it according to our societies' circumstances and in harmony with our values and our principles - and here comes the importance of self-confidence as a necessary element in treating many of our problems.”
He said: “In our homeland, and in others, many crimes and thefts are committed in the name of science. How many studies have been presented for major projects that were claimed to be scientific but that were pushed through by this political camp or that and supported by statistics and figures that are in truth falsified and fraudulent, most of whose benefits go to the holders of political interests. It is painful that every political camp now has its own scientific and technical experts, so that figures have become a matter of opinion and the people can no longer see reality in its true form. They have increased people's bewilderment and confusion, and no one can any longer hold anyone to account.. and people have been deprived of a basic right of theirs to know the truth and to hold officials accountable.”
He continued: “Dear ones, when you live openness and love for God, the winds of fanaticism will not be able to shake you - whether sectarian or denominational - in a country in which people's morsel of bread is devoured and their dignity violated in the name of religion, sect or denomination.. So beware of polluting your bright, pure minds with such fanaticisms, which were made only to achieve factional ends and to be a pretext for committing grave sins - sins in politics, in the economy and in society, even at the expense of paralysing the state, of building the homeland and of destroying values.”
Fadlallah concluded by saying: “Today we bid you farewell, asking God Almighty to grant you success in entering the labour market, despite the difficulty of conditions in the country, where no state plans for the graduates' future and there is no investment of these scholarly energies in lifting up the homeland - for the state is being gnawed at by the struggle over positions, favouritism and quota-sharing. We say to you: do not let despair enter your minds and your hearts; make use of any opportunity to work even if it does not meet your ambitions; begin even with small projects; invest your time in developing your knowledge; and work on growing your expertise and raising the level of your culture.”
The University's President
After that Mohammad Reda Fadlallah delivered a speech which read: “Our main goal is to provide university teaching of high quality, in a contemporary scholarly atmosphere, with deep research and authentic values, and within a university student life founded on love, dialogue, participation, freedom, citizenship and acceptance of the other.”
He added: “We are confident, and with every humility, that we have been sincere and faithful in our academic, skills-based, professional and parental performance - faithful to them, to their families, to their homeland and to the world - through building scholarly competencies in which we take pride and glory, all of it supplied by a value-based education that draws its elements from lofty heavenly teachings.”
He said: “We at the University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon - deans, lecturers, administrators and staff - live the restlessness of development and change. Before every decisive stage we pause long over the outcomes, studying, analysing and criticizing in order to identify the points of weakness and the places of strength, for further treatment and reinforcement - with a focus on the academic level, skills performance and human conduct, all of which represent firm fundamentals in our policy since the launch.”
Fadlallah continued: “Since we began working and still, we affirm development and we seek expansion: after we have embodied what we have and turned it into a good reality, we seek to add new specializations that we consider a need and a benefit. On this basis we are today in the process of adding a specialization in medical sciences, of obtaining a licence to operate a master's degree, and of new concentrations in early childhood, physical education and others.”
He concluded, addressing the graduates: “Let your confidence in yourselves and in your university be great, for you possess the scholarly, professional and value-based competence through which you can succeed and face the challenge in all its forms. Today we bid you farewell in an atmosphere that is a mixture of joy and a sense of loneliness. You are leaving the study desks to set off into life with what you possess of knowledge, faculties and capacities, and with the lofty human and heavenly values you enjoy, in order to face the challenges of the labour markets, to spread the values on which you were raised, and to be productive elements of goodness of whom the homeland is proud and in whom the nation takes pride. You are our ambassadors to the universe and to the world.”
Jabbour
Then Randala Jabbour delivered the teaching body's speech, which read: “This evening you are born from the womb of this mother university, to be its first generation of knowledge - firstborn by whose guidance those who join your procession tomorrow and the day after will walk. You set off into a time at whose end there is no full stop on the line but exclamation marks, ambition and creativity. This evening a new life is written for you, and it is written for us, the teaching body, that we wrote that beginning with you and with love. This evening we go back with you a few years to when you were seekers of knowledge, and the University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon - that humanized university - was most generous… It gave you knowledge but also the alphabet of navigating life in various fields, and elite lecturers who lit the road and life for you!”
She added: “This evening we bow before the university's presidency, which believed it was a womb giving birth to the high-achieving and the creative, and delivered… We bow before lecturers dedicated to building a more beautiful and refined world; we bow before administrators who organized our path so that the birth of our generations might be smooth; we bow before everyone who helped us all reach that moment of birth. This evening we bow before you, our dear students, for your dedication and your efforts that bore fruit. We will not say farewell to you but until we meet again in the fields of life. What matters is that you never despair but press forward, for the future is yours. What matters is that you do not grow lazy, for tomorrow loves those who constantly refine their knowledge. What matters is that you enter the world of the profession only to add to it passion, drive and a firm, unyielding will! Come, carry the provision your distinguished university has supplied you with and set off - and we are alongside you wherever you are; this is our promise to you… and peace be upon you.”
For his part the student Dawoud Abdullah delivered the graduates' speech, and the ceremony closed with the distribution of certificates and shields to the students being celebrated.
