"Departure into the new" Graduate School 2023 graduation ceremony

The atmosphere is festive and excited, the Libeskind Auditorium is almost completely full, the Leuphana logo projected onto the walls rotates slowly, barely noticeably and at the same time very steadily. The Opening Days are already far in the past for the students who have completed their Master's degree today, are being honored for their graduation and are leaving a "decisive phase of their lives" behind them on this day, as AStA spokeswoman Elisabeth Tacke emphasizes.

After the choir has opened the event, President Sascha Spoun welcomes all those present, friends, relatives, colleagues and the graduates and asks: "Do we have a perspective for the future?" In his speech, President Spoun talks about the future, how the future is often seen today as the preservation of what already exists, but not as the real departure into something new. "We feel a fear of loss and constriction, a lack of perspective. A feeling of powerlessness arises. What can and should you expect from the future?" President Spoun encourages people to have ideas and to follow these ideas instead of just fending off risks. "We have to dare to think something crazy and create the future ourselves." Leuphana has prepared students to be able to realize their dreams and give shape to their ideas. "Open up your perspective and your future! No one else will do it for you!" he advised the graduates.

Regina Graß from the Alumni Association emphasized the value of relationships in her subsequent speech. "We gain the new perspectives that President Spoun called for through exchanges with new people." Her time at Leuphana had taught her attitude, openness and solidarity.

AStA spokespersons Elisabeth Tacke and Josephine Kiecol also spoke about "great people who have shaped you", but also about possible precarious living and working conditions for students and the particular challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite these difficulties, many students have made a great contribution to life at the university and taken on social responsibility. "We want to thank you for that!"

Simone Abels, the Vice President responsible for the Graduate School, also focused on the community in her speech: "What can the person next to me actually do? How can we tackle problems together?" The course has served to "put you in interaction and develop skills to tackle the problems of the 21st century."

There was also a speech from the perspective of the graduates on this day. Luca Thieme, a graduate of the teaching degree program for vocational schools, talks about his Opening Week 2017, when the new central building was still under construction. He talks about new people and experiences, a self-determined time and student commitment, as well as the challenge of studying online, which some of them were unable to master. His speech is a journey through the highs and lows of student life, which now comes to an end with the "Day of Pride and Gratitude".

After the speeches, Master's graduates from various study programs are honored for their particularly outstanding achievements.

Finally, outstanding achievements are also the focus of the Leuphana Dissertation Prize, which will be awarded again for the first time at this graduation ceremony after a corona-related break in summer 2021. A total of 8 doctoral students from the graduation years 2022 and 2023 will be honored for their innovative and particularly award-worthy dissertations. The doctoral theses ranged from contributions to autonomous driving, research into innovative teaching practices in digitality and crowdfunding as a sustainability concept to engineering analyses of sheet metal forming, social science aspects of the Italian tax system and legal liability issues of large corporations. New research gaps were closed and visionary ideas implemented, and for these outstanding achievements the Förderkreis der Leuphana e.V. has donated a generous prize of 1,000 euros per award-winning dissertation.

The speakers made the audience reminisce and encouraged them to take action and show a sense of community. "You will all take different paths now. Even if you don't yet know where you're going, that's okay." Said the Asta speakers. President Sascha Spoun wished "all the best for what may come" and with the musical finale, a thank you to all the helpers and participants of the day, the graduates and their escorts went to the foyer for a champagne reception and toasted their studies and doctorate one last time.

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