NU-Q welcomes new students

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q)’s newest class was inducted recently at the annual Convocation Ceremony, the first to be held in its new building.
NU-Q’s Class of 2021 is diverse with students of more than 25 different nationalities.
As undergraduates, NU-Q students major in communication (media industries and technology) or journalism and strategic communication.
Of the 95 new students, this year’s class includes a star female athlete from Qatar’s national track and field team, several local students who were at the top of their high school class, and international students who scored in the top five percentile of the SATs worldwide.
“Since June 5, when several nations broke diplomatic relations with Qatar and instituted a land, sea and air blockade, we have stood strong, determined and resilient, supported by Qatar Foundation, our home campus, and our sister schools in Education City,” said NU-Q dean Everette E Dennis. “While we would not have wished for such a diplomatic rupture, it has tested the strength of Qatar which has conducted itself with dignity and restraint.”
Delivering the convocation address, Rami Khouri, a well-known political analyst and internationally syndicated journalist, told the students that there were three dimensions to their lives – the political, the personal, and the professional.
In developing their personal and professional competence, he told them to consider “how you will be remembered, each one of you, 10, 20, 30 years from now, by your peers and by history”.
“It is not by what you have achieved politically or even professionally, what you will be remembered for is how you behaved as a human being and as a person,” Khouri said. “Whether you are continuing in media, communication and journalism, or you to teaching or you going to another profession.”
A member of NU-Q’s advisory board, Khouri also urged the students to make use of the opportunity they have to study at a world class university, in a state-of-the-art facility, and with remarkable faculty with expertise across the industry.
Student Union president Nouf al-Sulaiti noted that students at NU-Q chose the university because they all wanted to “become innovators, tell stories, expose the truth, and change the future.
“Northwestern is tailored to help us achieve that and much more”.