Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) welcomed an incoming class of more than 100 freshman students and their families at the annual convocation ceremony held recently.
Dean Ilker Baybars welcomed students to Carnegie Mellon’s community of 12,000 students and 95,000 alumni around
the world.
“Our success is based on Carnegie Mellon’s core values of innovation, teamwork, problem-solving and hard work. We are confident that you are ready for the challenge ahead. That’s why you chose to attend Carnegie Mellon. And that’s why we chose you,” said Baybars.
Convocation is a long-standing university tradition that welcomes new students and their families to Carnegie Mellon. The ceremony was part of a weeklong orientation event that introduced first-year students to the campus, their peers and university resources - activities that are all geared to help students transition from high school into college. Activities included friendly competitions, karaoke and history lessons on the origins of the university.
The programme brings together the wider Carnegie Mellon community, with upper-class students planning and implementing orientation with support from Student Affairs. This year’s programme of events fell under the theme “Tartan Academy”, drawing inspiration from the popular book and movie series Harry Potter.
“The first interaction that new students have with the university is through orientation, and how they begin the next four years is heavily influenced by the welcome they receive. That is why it is so important to make it a special experience for them,” said Lana al-Kahala, a head orientation counsellor.
A team of four head orientation counsellors were tasked with planning and executing the orientation schedule alongside 24 orientation counsellors, six leaders and three social media co-ordinators.
For more information, visit http://qatar.cmu.edu/admission and follow Carnegie Mellon Qatar on Twitter (@CarnegieMellonQ), Instagram (carnegiemellonq), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CarnegieMellonQ) and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/CarnegieMellonQatar).