Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

Doha, State of Qatar — On Saturday, August 25, the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar officially welcomed the Class of 2011 into the community during its New Student Convocation ceremony. In the established tradition of the university, the 49 students of the Class of 2011 participated in a New Student Convocation, led by the Dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Dr. James Reardon-Anderson. The event, held in the LAS Building at Education City, formally inducted the new class of scholars into the academic community where they will spend the next four years.

During the ceremony, students and their families joined Georgetown University faculty and staff in listening to addresses by history professor, Dr. Amira Sonbol, fellow student Yasmine Al Sayyad, and Dr. Reardon-Anderson. Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia offered his own long-distance message of welcome from Washington, DC.

All of the speakers reminded the new students of the unique opportunity ahead of them. In describing a Georgetown education, Sonbol said, “Georgetown teaches a love of knowledge. It graduates leaders that define the world for other professions.”

In his keynote speech, Dean Reardon-Anderson highlighted the three fundamental elements of a Georgetown education. “You will be instructed in the existing body of knowledge, and you will learn how to learn, so that you are equipped to meet the challenges of an uncharted future. The hardest part of all depends almost entirely on you…this is to love learning,” he said.

The ceremony marked the close of a week of orientation events for the new students, which included information sessions on Qatar and Education City, as well as lectures on academic integrity, privacy, and other subjects. Twenty of the 49 students come to Education City from Qatar, with the remainder representing Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Canada, Egypt, India, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and the United States of America.