AUS honors 265 distinguished students at Honors Convocation ceremony

American University of Sharjah (AUS) honored 265 of its most illustrious students at a special Honors Convocation held last evening, Wednesday, October 23, in the Main Auditorium on campus.

All the students honored at the convocation were on the Chancellor's List. To qualify for this list, a student must have met the following requirements in both the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 semesters: been named to the Dean's List; been registered in a minimum of 15 credit hours; had no incomplete or failing grades in any courses; and had no disciplinary action against him/her.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Thomas Hochstettler, Acting Chancellor of AUS, congratulated the students on their achievements. He said that the event was held to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of the university's most talented and most industrious students.

"The names of those whom we honor here this evening will be inscribed onto the lists of those who in the past have likewise excelled in academic achievement, scholarly distinction and personal accomplishment at AUS," said Dr. Hochstettler. "Our coming together is our way of celebrating you, our most successful students, signifying in the process that you, collectively and individually, have demonstrated the high intellectual ability and the personal qualities of hard work and perseverance that are the hallmarks of excellence at this and every university."

Dr. Hochstettler said that students from every AUS college and school, from every department and every discipline were being honored at the ceremony. "Excellence at AUS is not the monopoly of any individual college or school, of any single discipline or intellectual tradition. No one who came here tonight to be honored has succeeded solely in her or his major field of study, but everyone here tonight has demonstrated the ability to master ways of knowing outside of their respective major," he said.

"In other words, we are not honoring tonight students who have mastered a narrow field of study, who have by sheer memorization and rote learning earned a GPA worthy of the awards we make here tonight. Rather, we are proud that our best students are the best precisely because of their demonstrated mastery across a full range of academic topics. That breadth of accomplishment is what makes this night so extraordinary, and it is what makes each of you here tonight so special," added Dr. Hochstettler.

Students who were participating in the ceremony for the first time received the bronze medal. Those who were participating for the second time received the silver medal while the gold medal was given to those participating for the third and fourth time.

The breakdown of the students honored is as follows: Gold: 50 Silver: 61 Bronze: 154

Dr. R. Malcolm Richards, Acting Provost, also addressed the students and congratulated them on their success.

"For as long as higher education has existed, universities such as ours have made it a tradition to pause occasionally to recognize the achievements of their students," he said. "We pause tonight in our annual round of activities to celebrate some very special individuals and to congratulate them on their accomplishments. Tonight, we honor the achievements of our most distinguished students."He said that the event was celebrating the achievements of 265 outstanding students. "To say that we are tremendously proud of them is an understatement," said Dr. Richards. "Each of these young people has met the intellectual challenges of the course of study that we have laid before them and has succeeded in full measure in meeting those extraordinary challenges. They have earned the right for their name to be placed on the Chancellor's List, which is the highest academic attainment that a matriculated student at AUS can achieve."

The evening also saw the Sheikh Khalifa Scholarships being awarded to four exceptional students. The scholarship is awarded to juniors and seniors and recognizes academic excellence, leadership potential, service to community, demonstrated talent in the field of study and participation in extracurricular and university activities. Awarded through an annual competition conducted within each college/school, it is granted for up to four consecutive semesters or until graduation requirements are complete.

Naser al Zayani from the College of Architecture, Art and Design; Neoma Sequeira from the College of Arts and Sciences; Osama Alhasan from the College of Engineering; and Saher Saeed from the School of Business and Management were declared the recipients of this prestigious scholarship awards.

The event was also attended by other senior university officials; faculty members; students and their family members; as well as members of the media.