Here's to you!

“If I were to go back to school, I’d go to HSZG again and study communication psychology once more,” said Maria Keller as she concluded her speech at the ceremony of disenrolment (from university) in the auditorium in Zittau on Saturday, April 13, 2019. “When Ms. Pfitzner from the Public Relations Office asked me to say a few words, I didn’t want to at first. But then it occurred to me that I’m now a communication psychologist…,” the rest of the sentence is lost amid the laughter of the audience, which has squeezed into the auditorium all the way to the last row of chairs. Maria Keller, a Bachelor of Arts graduate, was awarded the Friends of the University Prize along with five other students for their outstanding academic achievements. A total of 137 graduates were presented with a memento of their time at the university in the presence of fellow students, faculty, parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends.

After all, “success has many fathers and mothers”; Rector Professor Friedrich Albrecht knows that successfully completing a degree is always also thanks to the support of family and friends. Zittau’s mayor, Thomas Zenker, echoes this sentiment and, in his speech, recalls Zittau’s bid to become a Capital of Culture—the referendum will take place in May—and a Europe built on shared values: “Europe needs all of you!” Ronald Schmidt, General Manager of Industrial Steam at Siemens AG in Görlitz, also delivered an impressive speech. He described the emotional roller coaster ride that the Siemens plants in Görlitz have been through in recent years—especially for the employees. Many of the HSZG alumni work at Siemens. “Make the right decisions,” Schmidt concluded.

The band schönfisch breaks the solemn silence and brings a little sunshine into the auditorium with piano music, double bass, and electronic sounds. But the April weather doesn’t faze anyone on this day: hundreds of green balloons rise into the sky after the formal disenrolment (from university), allowing the graduates to send their wishes and dreams on wish cards. The mountain elm—this year’s graduation tree—is planted, watered, and finally christened, even if it’s in a winter jacket. It’s already the 41st tree in the Student Park. The air smells of bratwurst, thanks to the Zittauer Senfladen and its food stand, and people raise their glasses to one another. Here’s to us!

6:00 p.m., Volkshaus Zittau; dress code: evening wear. Rector Professor Friedrich Albrecht kicked off the evening with a little joke: “Now the fierce battle for the cold buffet begins!” In fact, however, there was also a large selection of hot dishes from Herzog Catering. Faculty and program photos were taken in the foyer. Next to it was a photo booth with all kinds of props—like glasses, beards, hats, and ties—for funny party photos that, hopefully, in twenty years, you’ll pull out of a dusty box and say: “Oh yeah, that was my 2019 graduation ceremony. That was a long time ago.” This is an evening you’ll be happy to look back on.

The party band Jolly Jumper celebrated and danced well into the night . The four guys have mastered every genre, every musical millennium: "We were told that you might be a bit tired, sluggish and full from the buffet, maybe you don't feel like dancing and we shouldn't be sad: and now this!" A few graduates are already on their knees to We will rock you and tapping on the dance floor. The stage program of party medleys and evergreens from AC/DC, Rammstein, Backstreet Boys to 90s techno enriches every concert. "Please keep up the good work!"