On 7 July, the official graduation ceremony for international students of 2023 was held in the Concert Hall of Voronezh State University (40a Kholzunov street). It was attended by the international graduates themselves, their friends, the administration of the International Education Institute, deans of the faculties, lecturers, and a large number of guests. Among the guests were parents of international graduates who managed to come to Russia to celebrate this important event with their children. The holiday began with the national anthem of the Russian Federation. Then, to the strains of the students’ anthem “Gaudeamus” and welcomed by the audience applause, the graduates who received a diploma with honours degrees brought in the colours of VSU and the International Education Institute.
Vladimir Rodionov, Director of the International Education Institute, delivered a congratulatory speech.
“I have attended all graduation ceremonies since 1989. And I would like to say that this year we have the largest number of international graduates for the last few decades. I am very pleased with this fact. However, you should understand that university is not just the sum of skills and knowledge in your diploma. This is the core, ideology, wisdom that will remain with you forever. You can't lose it once you get it,” said the director.
Among other speakers at the ceremony were Vladimir Glaziev, Dean of the Faculty of History, Zhanna Gracheva, Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Semion Kurolap, Dean of the Faculty of Geography, Geoecology, and Tourism, and Veronika Morozova, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of International Relations. The graduates gave speeches in response, in which they warmly recalled their first steps in Russia, thanked the lecturers for sharing their knowledge with them, and admitted that studying at Voronezh State University was the most important stage in their personal development.
This year, 217 international specialists graduated from Voronezh State University. They represented 29 countries and 17 faculties. During the ceremony, the name of each graduate was mentioned. All the graduates received brochures “Have a nice journey!” with the photos and interviews of the graduates, the history of the international activity of the university and photos of the lecturers and staff of the International Education Institute. Traditionally, the graduates handed over a symbolic key to knowledge to future first year students and had their picture taken to remember this important day. It was a vibrant group photo, in which everyone smiled and was full of optimism.
Congratulations to the graduates and we wish them success!
