Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) several times during pandemic organized limited online and offline graduation ceremonies. This period, a limited online and offline graduation ceremony, was held on Wednesday (21/11) at the UGM Hall. There are 6,794 UGM students engaged in the graduation ceremony for the 2020/2021 Academic year Period 1 of the Undergraduate and Diploma Program.
UGM Chancellor, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng., IPU, ASEAN., Eng., revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic that occurred in early 2020 has changed many things and urged everyone to shift their common habits into new habits, such as the event of the graduation ceremony at UGM. This event has been delayed for some time, and now, finally, UGM held the graduation online and offline with limited numbers.
Panut stated that this might not be a perfect condition, and it does not fully meet the students’ expectations. Still, it does not depreciate the meaning and appreciation for the struggles they have been through on campus.
“Remember this day, this moment, as one of the most historic moments in your life. Not because of the procession or the place where it was organized. More than that, it is because this is a momentum to commemorate your success. This event is evidence that you have successfully passed various challenges and endeavored to the point of being proud of your journey to study at UGM,” he explained.
Moreover, Panut said that the Covid-19 pandemic had a broad impact on the lives of the world’s nations, including the Indonesian nation. Despite those negative impacts, on the other hand, the Covid-19 pandemic has also unified, strengthened solidarity and care, revived the spirit of cooperation, and pushed the creativity and innovation of the nation. Some positive results yielded from this condition, such as research collaboration between universities and partners in vaccine and drug discovery, medical devices, and economic recovery efforts.
In the last few months, he continued that UGM had made contributions to overcoming the pandemic. The impacts are quite beneficial for UGM members, and the wider community come from several policy innovations and research products. This spirit of collaboration and innovation should be transferred from the UGM campus to all parts of the nation.
“Hopefully, some of you who have graduated today can engage in creative efforts to overcome the pandemic because I believe we can still feel the impact for the next few years,” he said.
In this graduation event, UGM organized a graduation ceremony for 695 graduates of the period III Academic Year 2019/2020 undergraduate and diploma program. Previously, they were supposed to carry out the graduation procession on May 13, 2020. Then, 3,975 period IV graduates of the 2019/2020 Academic Year were supposed to engage in a graduation ceremony on August 20, 2020, and 2,124 graduates for the first period of the 2020/2021 Academic Year is today.
Author: Ika
Photo: Firsto
Translator: Natasa A