Graduation in St. Mark’s square for 823 new graduates

The spring graduation ceremony has brought together 823 new graduates in St Mark’s Square. For the first time, the unique setting also hosted graduates from the Treviso Campus.

As usual, Ca’ Foscari Rector Michele Bugliesi opened the ceremony: “This is a day of celebration for the goal that you have achieved, today your opinion matters more in the areas you have studied. You have made an investment, you are curious and this curiosity must be maintained throughout your life. Ca’ Foscari has worked for your training, for your future. We are sure that you will all be successful. For this we invite you all to the y.our future run on the 6^th May, a non-competitive run to support talent, young people and the right to study. We are so proud of you”.

On stage, bringing greetings from the municipal authorities, was council member Chiara Visentin and Bruno Pigozzo, council member for the Veneto Region.

The guest this year was Alessia Cerantola, Ca’ Foscari alumna, Japanese culture expert and journalist, part of the International team that won the Pulitzer Prize 2017 for the Panama Papers enquiry: “While I congratulate you all on this important day I also offer my advice: always work together, those that work together create exponential results; travel a lot, this enriches your experiences and widens your perspective; be inspired by the past and understand it, but detach yourself from it, listen to others, but do not allow them to tell you that anything is impossible”.

The two valedictorians for the spring session, one Italian and one from abroad, both gave their speeches on stage; Claudia Cotolini, Italian valedictorian graduate, said: “We must have courage. We have got this far and we have shown that we matter. We must ask questions, complete internships, study topics that we still have not had the opportunity to study. And if we make mistakes, we pick ourselves up, like we have already done over these past years. We are young and we have endless possibilities to make the world better than it is today. I want to conclude with a phrase that I remember reading and was struck by: ‘No amount of guilt can solve the past and no amount of anxiety can change the future’. We can.”

Nicoleta Cheptea, foreign valedictorian graduate, said: “I thank Ca’ Foscari for the numerous opportunities and for the support that they have offered us: international experiences, direct contact with the world of work, professors of the highest level of education, and modern technologies, but also the possibility to deepen our interest in extra-curricular activities to discover our passions. A university that has given us all the tools to face our future with dignity.”

The event was organized thanks to the availability and support of the City of Venice, Vela Spa and Veritas.

We thank the Superintendence for the Architectural and Landscape Heritage of Venice and the Lagoon.