Global admiration for CQU graduation
CQUniversity commemorated the achievements of more than 250 students from around the world at the 2024 Sydney Graduation Ceremony.
Held on Thursday, 22 August at the Sydney International Convention Centre (ICC), the ceremony saw students from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds come together to receive their diplomas and degrees.
With graduates from 17 different countries, the event was a testament to CQU's commitment to fostering a global learning community and providing an inclusive educational environment.
Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Nick Klomp highlighted the impact of the University's strong alumni community with more than 120,000 alumni across the world.
“As a CQUniversity alumnus, you are now a part of a global cohort of highly educated citizens who have all the necessary skills to be changemakers,” Prof Klomp said.
“I encourage you to consider the responsibility that comes with this and extend a helping hand to others to achieve what is now yours. I encourage you to never stop learning, seek wisdom from wherever you can find it, and share what you know with others.”
Audiences were also afforded the opportunity to hear from guest speaker Ms Div Pillay, CEO of award-winning diversity and inclusion consultancy MindTribes, and co-founder of social enterprise Culturally Diverse.
As a diversity and inclusion practitioner, leader, researcher and advocate with over 20 years of experience in gender, race and cultural inclusion, Ms Pillay provided inspiring insights on the importance of leadership in today’s global society.
In her address, Ms Pillay emphasised the role of the new graduates in shaping an inclusive future.
“Your knowledge from your degree, and all the time you have spent getting here is a sunk cost if you don’t apply what you have learnt to the world,” she said.
“Education is a privilege. Leverage it to solve a problem or to serve others.
“It takes leadership to extract the value from your learning.”
Master of Management for Engineers graduate Dann Mark Del Mundo, who relocated to Australia from the Philippines, reflected on his educational experiences at CQU and aspirations to utilise his new skills and knowledge to become an industry leader.
The ceremony was viewed worldwide with the graduate’s family and friends invited to watch the broadcast via live stream from their home countries.
The diverse graduating cohort included a Vocational Education and Training (VET), 288 higher education, and three Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
CQUniversity Sydney campus’ first Associate Vice-Chancellor, Dr Holliday was one of the PhD candidates who accepted his doctorate in front of former colleagues, students and the broader university community.
The Sydney staff also recently celebrated another significant event, commemorating 30 years of the CQU Sydney campus which was established in 1994.
