Spring 2024 Graduation Ceremonies held on March 25, 26
Fri, Apr 26, 2024-
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On Monday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the graduation ceremonies for undergraduate students, graduate students and students from the Art and Architecture School were held at the Waseda Arena on Toyama Campus.
For the academic year 2023, a total of 7,226 undergraduate students, 62 from the Art and Architecture School, 1,798 master’s degree students, 540 professional master’s degree students, and 200 doctoral degree students graduated from Waseda. This made for a grand total of 9,826 students who embarked from Waseda to begin a new chapter of their lives.
In consideration of the health and safety of all students and their family members, only graduating students were invited to the ceremonies. The ceremonies were split into multiple sessions over two days to disperse the number of participants per session. This year, there were live broadcast viewing areas for guardians of students set up on Waseda Campus.
Additionally, the Azusa Ono Memorial Award ceremony was held to congratulate students and groups with outstanding achievements in the areas of Academics and Sports. There were 9 Academic awards, 2 Art awards and 11 Sports awards given out this year.
The President of Waseda University, Aiji Tanaka, addressed the graduating students at the ceremony.
President’s Address (extract)
On behalf of Waseda University, it is my great pleasure to congratulate you upon your graduation. We also extend congratulations to your family, relatives, and friends. I am sure that this is a moment you have been waiting for while studying here at Waseda.
Graduation is supposed to be an occasion at which not only graduating students but also their parents and relatives gather and celebrate together. However, considering that various infectious diseases are still spreading, this year too we had to reduce the size of the graduation ceremony and invite the graduating students only. We regret having to take these measures. At the same time, we would like you to know that we are all proud of you, who have completed your study at Waseda, accomplished your own goals, and are graduating today.
I know that all of you, this year’s graduating students, must have many special thoughts, because most of you entered Waseda University at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. It was our great regret that we could not hold the entrance ceremony for incoming students that year.
You had to take almost all your classes online throughout the academic year of 2020-2021. Although we gradually increased the number of face-to-face classes from April 2021, you still were not able to enjoy a normal campus life for about three years. For example, we could not allow you to hold student parties up until April 2023. This was the case not only for undergraduate students but also for graduate students and students of the Art and Architecture School.
However, you were patient and controlled yourselves so well that no cluster infections occurred in Waseda classes. I really appreciate your cooperation and self-discipline.
In this way, your campus life was very negatively affected by the COVID-19. Some of you might feel that you lost the most important part of your student life at Waseda that should have been very fruitful. Please do not think that your experiences of this coronavirus pandemic had only a negative impact, but rather that your difficult experiences with the pandemic have allowed you to develop as a human being. You will be stronger and more resilient than other generations of Waseda alumni, precisely because—in contrast to other generations—your generation has experienced a devastating pandemic while young and studying.
I used the word “resilient” just now. This is rooted in two ideal goals of education at Waseda that I espoused when I became the president in November 2018. One is to foster “intellectual resilience,” and the other is to foster “flexible sensitivity.”
What, then, does “intellectual resilience” mean? Most of the problems human beings are facing today do not have one correct answer. Think, for example, about the COVID-19 pandemic, global warming, the growing gap between the poor and the rich, and wars or armed conflicts that continue to kill so many people all over the world, you name it. No one has a single “right” answer to solve any of these problems.
Another important ideal is to foster “flexible sensitivity.” This ideal encourages our students to accept, understand, and respect people of different nationalities, ethnicities, languages, religions, creeds, genders, and sexual orientations. During the coronavirus pandemic period, we learned that this pandemic more negatively impacts some people depending on their nationality, ethnicity, and income level. You are acquiring the power of empathy to understand how different backgrounds matter. This understanding develops your power of empathy, or “flexible sensitivity.”
How do you feel about armed conflicts or war, violations of human rights, and severe political divisions? Why do people have to confront each other so aggressively? If all people can think and look at things from the perspectives of other people who are in different circumstances, then the world of human beings would be much more peaceful. Therefore, it is important for you to foster “flexible sensitivity.”
Waseda University is at present striving to foster and educate global leaders who will contribute to humankind throughout the world. However, at Waseda when we envisage a global leader, it is not necessarily a person who is working for an international organization such as the United Nations or for an international corporation. No matter how small a village or town in which a person lives, and no matter how small an NPO or company a person works for, they are regarded at Waseda as a global leader if they always think of humankind throughout the world. I trust that you will all be global leaders in this sense.
Please have confidence in what you have learned at Waseda, because you have survived the difficult academic environment brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. You can live well with this confidence.
Even after you graduate, please come back to visit your alma mater. Our doors are always open to you. We look forward to seeing you again as you become ever-more impressive; and for our part, we strive to make Waseda University an ever-more shining alma mater of which you can be proud.
Congratulations on your graduation, our newest alumni!
For the full speech in English, click here.
The Executive Chairman of the Waseda University Alumni Association (WUAA), Akira Mandai, delivered a congratulory message to encourage and welcome the soon-to-be alumni of Waseda.
Congratulatory Speech (extract)
All of you who are graduating today must have taken great pains to continue your student lives over the past three years. For these reasons, my heart is especially full to be celebrating and delivering my message on behalf of the Alumni Association to you today.
During the pandemic, the WUAA called on its members to donate to the COVID-19 Student Emergency Assistance Fund. In response, alumni from all over Japan and many from abroad showed their generosity in donating more than 800 million yen over the course of a year. This money was used to provide financial assistance to current students.
The Alumni Association has inherited a great tradition, and we hope to continue to stand alongside Waseda University, a place we consider our home, with many of you as our members, as we carry on the spirit of these important words: “To the world together, toward the future together.” Those of you graduating from Waseda University today are facing a situation that no one has ever experienced before: a future without answers. At present, the world is not only fighting the coronavirus, but we are also in a time of major political, economic, social change and safety guarantee as well as great uncertainty. However, it is precisely because we live in such an era that we need individuals who can take on new challenges and be innovative, without being hampered by any preconceived ideas. Waseda University graduates are exactly such individuals. They are active in their local communities while also working on the world stage as global leaders.
As you begin your journey, you may experience joyful and happy moments but also great difficulties that may cause pain and sadness. Nevertheless, you are headed toward a bright future. Please apply the intellectual resilience and flexible sensitivity that you have developed at Waseda University. Take pride in the fact that you have studied here and demonstrate an enterprising spirit as you venture out into wider society. I urge you to move and inspire people wherever you go in Japan, no, wherever you go in the world, and become someone capable of making a significant global contribution.
Even after you graduate and leave the Waseda nest, the University’s spirit will be embedded in your DNA. The 670,000 alumni who have graduated from Waseda and who are active all over the world, are of one mind. The WUAA welcomes you wherever you are, as our network extends throughout Japan and into a variety of countries and regions worldwide. As you begin your career, feel free to utilize the resources that the WUAA has to offer.
Lastly, please remember that your alma mater and fellow alumni will always be by your side cheering you on. We hope that, in the future, you will be the ones warmly supporting and cheering for Waseda’s students of tomorrow.
The WUAA’s slogan is: “To the world together, toward the future together.” In that spirit, please take a leap, spread your wings, and soar high as you take on the world and step into the future.
For the full speech in English, click here.
Graduation Album
Waseda Live
*The actual day live-broadcast of the ceremonies can be watched from the URLs below.
March 25, 2024 (Mon)
1st Session
School of Political Science and Economics; School of Law; School of Social Sciences;
Graduate School of Political Science; Graduate School of Economics; Graduate School of Law; Waseda Law School; Graduate School of Social Sciences
2nd Session
School of Culture, Media and Society; School of Humanities and Social Sciences; School of Commerce; Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Graduate School of Commerce; Graduate School of Accountancy; Waseda Business School (Graduate School of Business and Finance)
March 26, 2024 (Tue)
3rd Session
School of Education; School of Human Sciences (including the Online Degree Program); School of Sport Sciences; School of International Liberal Studies; Graduate School of Education; Graduate School of Human Sciences; Graduate School of Sport Sciences; Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies; Graduate School of Japanese Applied Linguistics; Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies
4th Session
School of Fundamental Science and Engineering; School of Creative Science and Engineering; School of Advanced Science and Engineering; Art and Architecture School; Graduate School of Fundamental Science and Engineering; Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering; Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering; Graduate School of Environment and Energy Engineering; Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems
