We Bid Farewell to the Class of 2024 with Our Commencement Ceremony as They Embark on Their New Journey

Özyeğin University’s Class of 2024 celebrated their graduation with a commencement ceremony on June 29, 2024. Held at the Çekmeköy Campus, the ceremony was marked by our graduates’ joy of cap-throwing and a historic first as three of our students were awarded valedictorians. Upon our valedictorians’ delivery of speeches at the general ceremony, our doctoral graduates received their diplomas from their dissertation advisors. Our graduates and their families were accompanied at the general ceremony by our Chairman of the Board of Trustees Hüsnü Özyeğin, our Rector Prof. Dr. Esra Gençtürk, members of our Board of Trustees and our academic staff led by our deans. Over 5000 ÖzU members came together on our campus on this enthusiastic day.

In her opening speech at the main ceremony, Rector Prof. Dr. Esra Gençtürk, who has served as our university’s Rector for three successive terms and has led Özyeğin University to become one of the best universities nationally and internationally during her tenure, addressed our graduates with the following words: “When we invited you to embark on ‘the Venture of Your Life,’ we promised you a journey of self-discovery and an opportunity to set your own course. Some of you accepted our invitation and enrolled in our undergraduate and PhD programs five or six years ago. Some of you accepted our invitation and joined our master’s programs one or two years ago. However, above all, you mustered the courage to embark on a journey to discover your true selves. As a result, while you have progressed on your personal journey promised by ‘The Venture of Your Life,’ you have also contributed to our transformation and the transformation of our university, and you have left a lasting imprint. Today, Özyeğin University, whose degrees are bestowed upon you, is much more than a 15-year-old young university. It is a nationally and internationally acclaimed higher education institution that has become stronger, more ambitious and more prestigious because of you. Much like the students our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk sent to be educated as sparks during the early years of the Republic, trusting that they would return as flames, today you are graduating as flames ready to shape our Republic’s modern, secular, and democratic characteristic during its second century. You are the essence of change toward a brighter, fairer, more constructive, and more sustainable world. Dear 13th Graduating Class, may your journey be guided by reason and science, may luck be on your side, and may your successes be abundant.”

Following her speech, our Rector Prof. Esra Gençtürk invited Mr. Hüsnü Özyeğin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Özyeğin University, onto the stage. In his speech, Mr. Özyeğin remarked: “It is with great pleasure that I address you here today at our university’s 13th commencement ceremony, which is one of the most exciting and proud moments of my life. Each June, this ceremony fills us with invaluable emotions, and this year, as we step into the second century of our Republic and leave behind the first fifteen years of our University, it carries even greater significance. Now that I look back on these 15 years, in each of these proud moments and accolades that we shared, I now see more clearly the immense efforts and contributions you, our cherished graduates, and our esteemed professors have made under the leadership of our Rector Prof. Dr. Esra Gençtürk. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Dr. Esra Gençtürk, in particular, who joined Özyeğin University at its inception and has played a significant role in all of our countless successes as the rector of our university over the past 11 years, as well as to all of our faculty and staff, and you, our beloved students. You are the graduates of a milestone year where we celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Republic. You are the youth to whom the Founding Father of Türkiye and the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk entrusted the Republic with. As the ambassadors of both our past and our future, I trust you as the youth who are guided by science, working towards the common good of humanity, and who are, in the words of Atatürk, ‘free in thought, conscience, and wisdom.’ I wish you success on your new journey, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and your families on your graduation. Wishing you good luck and all the best.”

The general ceremony was followed by concurrent faculty graduation ceremonies, held simultaneously with the speeches of our deans and faculty valedictorians. During these ceremonies, diplomas were awarded to all graduates, with special recognition given to master’s graduates and bachelor’s graduates who achieved honors and high honors distinctions.