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| Associate Dean Daniel C Stoll leading the procession at the convocation |
The orientation activities for the freshmen included the introduction of this year’s theme based on empires, placement testing, a treasure hunt, a community Iftar and an optional trip to the desert.
University officials welcomed 77 new students to Georgetown’s campus in Education City. At the conclusion of the weeklong orientation activities, a convocation ceremony was held on August 25 with welcome addresses by the dean for the School of Foreign Service Carol Lancaster and the incoming dean of the Qatar campus Gerd Nonneman.
Ali al-Buainain and Hyeonuk Park are among the incoming students that make up the SFSQ Class of 2015, and are a case study in SFSQ’s growing internationalism and multiculturalism.
Al-Buainain is a Qatari student who graduated from the Qatar Leadership Academy and the Academic Bridge Program (ABP), where he was the president of the ABP debate team. He participated in an international debate competition in Malaysia in December 2010, plays chess and piano, and is an avid blogger.
He has spent the past few years learning the Korean language, after becoming interested in Korean music.
“I chose Georgetown for the obvious reasons of the multitude of cultures here, and because I thought that coming here would not only increase my awareness of Asian culture, but also my global awareness. I’ve noticed that at Georgetown, we don’t just stay within boundaries, we literally go outside the box and explore other cultures and get a chance to meet people from all around the world,” said al-Buainain.
Hyeonuk Park, an incoming SFSQ student from South Korea, moved with his family to Egypt prior to enrolling at Georgetown in Qatar. While completing his middle school and high school studies in Egypt, Hyeonuk volunteered in the most impoverished and underserved communities of Cairo. He also developed a passion for the Arabic language.
Hyeonuk said: “Last year as I was searching for universities, I found out that Georgetown has a branch in Qatar. I was very interested, and discovered that it was the perfect place for me, because Georgetown, and especially SFS, has a great reputation all over the world - and because it was located in the Middle East, where I can continue my Arabic studies and have more interaction with Arabic-speaking people. I also liked that the university is located in Qatar, which is an aggressively developing country where I would have many opportunities, so I didn’t hesitate to join.”
Al-Buainain and Hyeonuk join their fellow SFSQ freshmen to make the largest and most diverse class at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar yet, with an increase of 46% in the freshman class from the last year. The Class of 2015’s 77 students include 24 international students, like Hyeonuk, who do not have any family in the country, having travelled to Qatar for the purpose of attending SFSQ.
The university’s newest members are also its most diverse, with 31 different nationalities and 10 students representing more than one nationality.
The highest represented nationality in the SFSQ Class of 2015 is Qatar with eight male students, including al-Buainain, and 18 female students. Seven nationalities are also newly represented among the incoming class, including Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Mexico, Morocco, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
As part of their initial activities at the university, the Class of 2015 invited members of the local Georgetown community, including workers throughout the building, to join in the Ramadan meal at Georgetown’s new campus in Education City.
The freshman class of 77 students participated in the Iftar meal with 29 of the university’s workers, including 20 cleaners and nine guards.
Community engagement and service is considered an integral part of the Georgetown education. The university’s students and faculty are involved in a number of charitable organisations and initiatives in Qatar, and travel each semester on international service learning trips.