Arkın University of Creative Arts and Design (ARUCAD), which opened in the 2018-2019 academic year, produced its first graduates with the graduation ceremony held at the University Conference Hall on July 26.
As an art-focused thematic university that combines the fields of art, design and communication, ARUCAD has broken new ground in both Cyprus and the region and has now bestowed diplomas on fourteen students who successfully completed their courses at the first ARUCAD graduation ceremony. At the graduation ceremony of Plastic Arts, Photography, Visual Communication Design Departments and Art Master’s students, President of the Republic Assembly, Zorlu Töre, Minister of Health, Izlem Gürçağ Altuğra, Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hasan Taçoy, Girne District Governor, Sinan Güneş, YÖDAK President Prof. Dr. Turgay Avcı, Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü, ARUCAD Founder Erbil Arkın, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Arkın, Rector Prof. Dr. Asım Vehbi, academic and administrative staff of the University and parents attended.
GRADUATE AIHAM NEMER; “ARUCAD WAS MORE THAN A UNIVERSITY, IT WAS A FAMILY”
Aiham Nemer, a graduate of the Visual Communication Design Department, who made the first speech of the ceremony, stated that graduating after 4 years of intense effort, is only a station and life is a non-stop journey from one station to the next. Stating that being patient and believing in oneself is the biggest key to success, he added, “We would like to thank our tutors for the patience and understanding they have shown us over the last four years. We have learned a lot from you, now it is our turn to share what we have learned, because knowledge is not limited to individuals, knowledge is a way of keeping your names and those before you alive from generation to generation. Expressing his gratitude to everyone working at ARUCAD, Nemer concluded his words by saying, “ARUCAD was more than a university, it was a family.”
PROF. DR. ASIM VEHBI; “ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF A UNIVERSITY’S IDENTITY IS ITS GRADUATES”
Delivering the welcome speech of the ceremony, Rector Prof. Dr. Asım Vehbi noted that ARUCAD, as an art-oriented university, has carried out many projects and events worthy of its identity from the day it was founded, and that the whole team was working hard to reach the level of education where they can compete with the world’s most important universities in the field of art and design. Vehbi told the graduates, “One of the most important elements of a university’s identity is its graduates. ARUCAD will perhaps be remembered, first of all, for your skills, success, steadfast stance and working tradition. Therefore, you will visibly carry your university on your shoulder and chest throughout your life. We sincerely believe that you will proudly carry your university in every field.”
ASST. ASSOC. PROF. DR. SINAN S. ARKIN; “THE LIVES AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF ITS GRADUATES DEFINE THE SUCCESS OF A UNIVERSITY”
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan S. Arkın started his speech by stating that the first graduates of the University were very special because they decided to join the ARUCAD family at such an early stage of the University’s existence. Dr. Arkın said, “First of all, my most sincere wish is that you can create permanent works. You are the flag bearers of this university. True success is not the number of students an educational institution has or how modern its facilities are, nor is it simply its contribution to research. It is the lives and achievements of its graduates that determine the success of a university. That’s why we will always support you in your lives and careers. Go out and conquer the world! And while you do this, please remember us. We will definitely remember you,” he said.
ERBIL ARKIN; “NEXT YEAR, I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT YOU AGAIN WITH GREAT PROUD”
Founder Erbil Arkın, in his speech at the ceremony, told the gathering that the ARUCAD story had begun seven years ago as a spark in his mind that gradually turned into a dream. Arkın said, “I wanted to make that dream come true. Now I am happily watching you from this stage,” adding, “Today we are celebrating our first graduates. Perhaps, in 5 or 10 years time, you will return to this university as a tutor. Those who graduate 15-20 years later will talk about you. You will proudly tell them that you were ARUCAD’s first graduates.”
Underlining that ARUCAD is not a for-profit university, Erbil Arkın said, “This university is for our culture, our nation, our people,” adding, “I hope that ARUCAD will become an important part of the culture and character of Cyprus generations, and that Cyprus cannot be imagined without ARUCAD.” At the end of his speech, Erbil Arkın, who stated that he looked forward with great pride to viewing the following year’s ceremony from the stage and thanked the academicians, students, parents and all employees who have contributed to this success.
In his speech, Zorlu Töre, President of the Assembly of the Republic, reminded the graduates not to forget the city of Kyrenia, nor the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Töre thanked the Arkın family for bringing an art and design university to the country.
In her speech, Minister of Health, Izlem Gürçağ Altuğra stated that “Sometimes successes that cannot be achieved through diplomacy and economic power cab be achieved with a work of art” and stated that their duty is to protect and value the works produced in Cyprus.
Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hasan Taçoy wished success to the graduates and recommended that they always think big, work hard and share their successes.
YÖDAK President Prof. Dr. Turgay Avcı YÖDAK stated that years ago, when he first heard that ARUCAD would be established, he said that if such a dream could be realised, it would become a shining star for Northern Cyprus. Avcı thanked its founders for bringing ARUCAD, which was established for quality purposes as a university far from the classical departments of conventional universities, to the country and congratulated the graduates.
Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü advised the multi-national graduate students who have lived in Kyrenia for 4-5 years not to forget this quality university and the tolerant Mediterranean city, wherever they go.
ARUCAD 2021-2022 GRADUATES RECEIVE THEIR DIPLOMA
At the end of the ceremony, ARUCAD 2021-2022 undergraduates and postgraduates received their diplomas and held the traditional cap tossing ceremony in the garden of the university. They celebrated their graduation with the entire ARUCAD family at the gala night held at the Colony Hotel.