The best we can offer!

The journey was at times long and arduous, but always educational and worthwhile! With this realization in mind—which had less to do with the graduates’ choice of seating at the formal disenrolment ceremony in the Zittau Auditorium and more to do with memories of their recent academic journey—the invited graduating classes celebrated this year’s main disenrolment ceremony last Saturday, April 29,2017, held this year’s central graduation ceremony.

The event kicked off with the disenrolment ceremony at 1:30 p.m. in the Zittau auditorium, where Rector Prof. Albrecht first delivered the opening remarks to the graduates and guests, followed by remarks from the Mayor of Zittau, Thomas Zenker. In his speech, he emphasized, among other things, that despite the economic challenges still facing Zittau and the region, it is worthwhile to establish a professional career here.

Many graduates have indeed succeeded in doing so. One such graduate is Martin Quinque, who, after completing his Diplom thesis in the Mechanical Engineering degree programme, began his career at his internship partner, MBN Maschinenbaubetriebe Neugersdorf GmbH. The graduate engineer is not only an alumnus but also one of six recipients of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences Friends Association Award for outstanding academic achievement, which was presented for the first time this year during the formal disenrolment ceremony.

All six faculties have the opportunity to nominate a student for this award. The award recognizes the best academic performance based on the grade point average, with special consideration given to the final dissertation. The criterion is a grade point average of better than 2.0. An overview of all award recipients, their final dissertations, and their advisors can be found here.

Following the farewell ceremonies for the graduates of the individual faculties—accompanied by musical performances from the “Mandau Quartet”—a gathering took place at around 3:30 p.m. in the Zittau Student Park for the joint christening of the graduates’ tree.

The mountain maple, christened with ceremonial remarks by the Vice President for Education and International Affairs, Prof. Christa Maria Heidger, is now the 39th tree to grace the Student Park since its founding in 2009.

Braving the occasionally stormy weather, hundreds of green balloons were released into the Zittau sky for the fourth time, allowing the now-former students of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences to send their wishes and dreams skyward.

At 6:00 p.m., the doors of the Zittau Volkshaus opened for the first time to welcome the graduates and their guests. Once the final faculty photo had been taken and the lavish buffet had been devoured, the Liberec-based “Big ‘O’ Band” took the musical reins in the ballroom. With a mix of swing, funk rock, and pop, the band filled the hall with pure joy for dancing and celebration among all generations present, before the party continued with DJ music well into the night.

We congratulate all the graduates of this year’s commencement ceremony and wish them all the good luck for the future.

Text: Cornelia Rothe, M.A.