The 12th Convocation of Beaconhouse National University (BNU) was held on December 23, 2017 at Tarogil Campus, Raiwind Road, Lahore, where a total of 384 graduates were awarded degrees.

The ceremony was presided over by the Vice Chancellor, Mr. Shahid Hafiz Kardar. Chairperson, Board of Governors, Mrs. Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Members of the board, Mr. Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Mr. Kasim Mahmud Kasuri, Dr. Parvez Hassan, Mr. Mueen Afzal and Mr. Shahid Malik graced the ceremony as honored guests. Also present were Deans of BNU Schools including Prof. Dr. Gulzar Haider, Prof. Dr. Tariq Rahman, Prof. Rashid Rana, Prof. Dr. Khaver Zia, Prof. Dr. Ruhi Khalid and Prof. Dr. Taimur-ul-Hassan, faculty, dignitaries, guests and parents of the graduating students.

This year’s convocation was a milestone occasion for the University as we had our first batch of doctoral graduates from the Institute of Psychology. PhD scholars Ayesha Sarfaraz and Sidra Afzal were awarded degrees after completion of their doctoral research requirements. 291 students were conferred Bachelor while 91 received Masters Degrees. These include 89 from Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & 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 & 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 of which 15 recipients were girls. The Nasim Hijazi gold medal was awarded to BA (Hons.) Journalism graduate Muhammad Firas Shams while Arfa Karim gold medal was awarded to Zunaira Arif of the BS (Hons.) Software Engineering program. The parents of Arfa Karim presented the medal to Zunaira.

Vice Chancellor, Shahid Hafiz Kardar presented the annual report. Addressing the members of the board on the occasion, he said, “Since embarking on the journey 14 years ago under you leadership, we have not only been able to carve a niche for ourselves in offering an array of modern-day disciplines in a contemporary environment but have also remained unique in the scale and scope of our endeavors. Our commitment to standards remained subjective and qualitative, however not strictly empiricist.” He continued on to say, “Charting ahead, I am pleased to inform you that we regard our 2020 vision as work in progress to position ourselves for addressing the challenges of competition, technology and innovation which we see as opportunities to be explored.”

Chairperson, Board of Governors, Mrs. Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri addressed the graduating class of 2017. In her address she stressed the need for Liberal Arts education and critical thinking among the students. She said, “A Liberal arts education empowers one 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 analyze our prejudices and to lead us towards common goals of peace and harmony.”

In recognition of the services of Prof. Salima Hashmi, the founding Dean of the School of Visual Arts and Design at BNU, the Chairperson, Mrs. Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri conferred the title of Professor Emeritus on Professor Hashmi for her contribution to Art and Design Education and to the University.