384 degrees awarded in convocation

LAHORE : The 12th convocation of Beaconhouse National University (BNU) was held at the varsity’s Tarogil Campus on Saturday in which 384 graduates were awarded degrees.

BNU Vice-Chancellor Shahid Hafiz Kardar presided over the ceremony while Board of Governors Chairperson Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri was the chief guest of the event. The board members Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Kasim Mahmud Kasuri, Dr Parvez Hassan, faculty members, graduating students and their parents were also present on the occasion.

As many as 291 graduates were conferred bachelor's degrees, 91 master's and two doctoral degrees. Among them, 89 were from Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD), 43 from Razia Hassan School of Architecture (SA), 35 from Seeta Majeed School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SLASS), 93 from the School of Media and Mass Communication (SMC), 60 from the School of Computer and IT (SCIT), 38 from the Institute of Psychology (IP) and 26 from the School of Education (SE).

A total of 20 gold medals were awarded this year. Fifteen recipients of the gold medals were girls. The Arfa Karim Gold Medal was awarded to Zunaira Arif of the BS (Hons) Software Engineering programme. Nasim Hijazi Gold Medal was awarded to Muhammad Firas Shams of the BA (Hons) Journalism programme.

Vice-Chancellor Shahid Hafiz Kardar presented the annual report. Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri addressed the graduating class of 2017 and stressed the need for liberal arts education and critical thinking among the students. She said, “Liberal arts education empowers us not only to think, interrogate and question but also hones our curiosities with concrete reasoning.

The world must continue to produce quality critical thinkers to help all of us to analyse our prejudices and to lead us towards common goals of peace and harmony.”