Paris concludes the graduation season 2022 at Schiller International University

On June 24^th Schiller International University concluded the graduation season with a beautiful ceremony on the Paris brand-new campus! 

Global Registrar Peter Aguilar welcomed graduates accompanied by families and friends, faculty, and staff in the beautiful upper room of the campus overlooking Avenue Hoche for an evening of inspiring words and celebration. Mr. Aguilar reminded the students and their families of the importance of this moment celebrating years of study and effort insisting on the solemnity of the event.

Campus Director Claire Bourgeois congratulated the students for their success and presented them as an example of multicultural understanding. Quoting French writer Albert Camus, she invited them to have a positive impact on the world and become committed citizens: “Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself.” This was part of the speech by Albert Camus at the City Hall in Stockholm when receiving the Nobel Prize in literature in 1957.

Academic Dean Sanja Stevic then addressed the graduates sharing her personal experience as a student and urged them to persevere and “keep knocking even when a door shuts in your face.”  She also recited the poem by Marianne Williamson, Our Deepest Fear.

Schiller Alumni Cecilia Caron, Digital Marketing Specialist at Linkurious, unable to attend the ceremony, offered a very moving online keynote speech, sharing her experience “And when I look back, and I look out at all of you, there’s one quote that I believe not only resonates but is something that has stuck with me since the day I left Chicago. French author Andre Gide said, “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”  If you’re sitting here today, you’ve most likely stepped out of your own comfort zones in one way or another. You’ve taken a step to further your education and I can assure you that no matter what the future holds, you’ve made it this far and you’ll be able to handle whatever life has to offer.”

The René Cassin Award, presented to a student of high academic achievement who has displayed outstanding leadership and service to the University, was given this year to Marvellous Makombe for her academic excellence during her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations & Diplomacy. The award is named in honor of the twentieth-century French jurist, politician, and diplomat René Cassin who was one of the original authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Valedictorian Awards were given by Claire Bourgeois and Dean Sanja Stevic to students Barbara Gracia Tabea and Chiazom Chimeziri for their academic excellence in International Relations and Diplomacy and Business Administration in International Business. They both gave moving and inspiring speeches and were cheered by their fellow students.

The graduates then walked to the stage to receive their diplomas, after which they moved the tassel to the left to indicate their new status as graduates and threw their caps from the walkway of the lobby in the new campus. The celebrations continued with a beautiful cocktail prepared by “Meet my Mama”, a non-profit 'tech for good' organization that empowers migrant women by offering them training and business opportunities in catering.

Congratulations to the Schiller Paris Class of 2022!