Dear graduates, dear guests, friends and families!

It is with great pleasure that I share this happy and important occasion with you. It is a special day for you, for your families and friends and certainly a day worth celebrating.

Today you mark your academic achievements and prepare to move on to something new.

I have participated in CBS’ graduation ceremonies before. But this year we celebrate the CBS centenary, so graduates from all study programmes participate, and I must admit that I’ve never seen so many graduates gathered under one roof before! This is exciting!

But so it should be: a graduation ceremony is an important event for students and school alike. This tradition firmly shows that CBS is an international university.

Now, “tradition” is worth elaborating on. Derived from Latin “tradere”, it means to transmit – to hand over. In this sense, the ceremony is about celebrating your successful achievement of a milestone in life, as well as a way to go on and embrace new responsibilities and opportunities.

But maybe “tradition” is too narrow a word? Rather, this event could be called an institution, which is a more dynamic notion – institutions emerge and are subject to change.

Seen in that light, today’s graduation is more about stepping in to the real world. It is the linkage between your personal educational achievements, CBS’ role as an educator, and society’s insatiable need for educated people.

So this is not just another Saturday afternoon in August – it is about YOU celebrating your achievements, it is about CBS celebrating its annual production, it is about the world celebrating yet a new generation of leaders!

Finally, one more Latin aphorism: Carpe diem: seize the day!               

Let’s go to work!

I hereby declare the ceremony open!