A MINUTE of silence was observed for the first two sessions of the University of the South Pacific graduation ceremonies yesterday to commemorate victims of the Christchurch shooting.
Professor Pal Ahluwalia, USP’s vice-chancellor and president, said a total of 2226 students were graduating this month.
“This is the largest number of graduates to ever graduate from the university,” Prof Ahluwalia said.
He said the graduates must recognise that they had reached a milestone achievement in their lives.
Prof Ahluwalia said out of the total number of graduates, 60 per cent were women and this was a significant number.
He said the graduation also marked the end of an academic journey for a few of the graduates who would be serving in different fields in our communities.
During this month’s graduation, Prof Ahluwalia said a total of four honorary degrees were being awarded with seven PhDs.
President of Kiribati and university chancellor Taneti Maumau said this was a day to glorify the Lord for our talented Pacific people. “I stand before you today (yesterday) as a parent and proud President of one of the smaller Pacific Island countries,” Mr Maumau said.
“We have very talented and capable individuals in our region and this is very evident today.”
The Faculty of Arts , Law and Education, Faculty of Science and Technology and the Pacific Technical and Further Education held their graduation ceremonies yesterday.
The Faculty of Business and Economics will hold its graduation ceremony today.
