The 50th Dhaka University (DU) convocation was held on March 4 with more than 17,000 graduate and postgraduate students taking part. President Abdul Hamid, also the Chancellor of the University, presided over the program and provided the attendees with a heartfelt, inspiring speech.
The President called upon the student community to come forward and bring student politics back on track. He recounted his admissions experience with the university and discussed how during the 60s the aims and objectives of student politics were to ensure the welfare of the nation and the country.
Here are a few notable points that were taken from his speech:
Striving towards success through failure: The President passed his SSC Third Division exam in 1961 but failed to get the appropriate score in one of the subjects. Due to this, he was rejected from Dhaka University even without participating in the admissions exam.
Finding strength in your roots: He later went back to his home town in Kishoreganj and got admitted to the Gurudayal Government College. Despite this, he constantly had to visit Dhaka due to his connection to student politics and over the course of this time, ended up staying at almost all the dormitories (minus the women’s dormitory, as he joked) in Dhaka University.
The irony of life: During his time in Gurudayal he had always wished to attend a convocation wearing the special gown and hat but never got the chance since small time government colleges weren’t invited to these events. However, as the Chancellor of all the universities in the country, he now has to attend numerous convocations each year and sit through them in that same attire (which he later found out was quite uncomfortable).
Prioritizing democracy: During his speech he emphasized on the need for regular elections for the Dhaka University Central Student’s Union so that power changes hands from older students to newer fresh faces. He sighted that this would be essential for the development of future young leaders in the universities who can provide fresh new innovative ideas.
The timely fruits of our labor: To emphasize on the need for youth leaders, he provided a humorous example of how Jack Fruits are available all year-round in Bangladesh but the best tasting ones are those which are available during the early summers of the country.
