NEWS

The APU 2014 Fall Graduation Ceremony was held at the B-Con Plaza Convention Hall on Friday, September 12, 2014. A total of 448 graduates consisting of 356 international students and 92 domestic students from 36 countries and regions, including undergraduate, Masters, and PhD students, basked in the splendor of this special occasion. B-Con Plaza was filled with the laughter and tears of friends and family of graduates who gathered from around the world to celebrate the graduates on the threshold of their new life beginnings. 

APU President KORENAGA Shun congratulated the graduates and offered words of encouragement. “Our goal is to lead the world in global learning. With one of the most multicultural environments in the world, APU is cultivating global human resources ready to take on and succeed in today’s society. However, our goal isn’t just to produce human resources fluent in several languages or capable of succeeding on an internationally competitive stage. Global human resources are people who have learnt about a wide range of cultures, studied the structure and issues of global society, respect each other, acknowledge each other’s differences, overcome any confrontations that arise, have dialogue and work together harmoniously to create new values. Here on the APU campus everyone has already experienced this and it is a path that you yourselves have paved.” Graduates representing the undergraduate and graduate schools, each gave their own speeches and bid a farewell to their lives as students.  

TEERAWAT Kanmanee (APS, The Kingdom of Thailand), recipient of this year’s ANDO Momofuku Honor Prize, represented the undergraduate students at the ceremony in thanking and honoring the graduates: “The honorable Dr. ANDO Momofuku was a visionary. A person with a never-give-up attitude. He started his own company at the age of 22, went through many hardships, and was even penniless for a time. It wasn't until the age of 48 that he invented instant chicken ramen and worked to become one of the most successful people in Japan.  It is because of his vision and his desire to help foster future leaders that I have been given this special opportunity to stand here today. I am extremely thankful for this opportunity.”

Representing the Graduate School, HALYS Piotr Lukasz (GSAM, The Republic of Poland) also addressed the audience: “In my area of specialization - that is, international business - throughout my research, I discovered that management is not only about rules or regulations, but rather it is mostly about people. Whether you invest in a foreign company or just manage a small enterprise in a domestic market, you are around people, with whom you sign contracts and negotiate agreements and to whom you offer your products and services. It costs nothing to be kind, respectful and supportive of the people around you. I do think that having good relations with coworkers, family and communities is the key to being successful in both your career and your personal life.

Furthermore, while studying particularly here in Japan some of my beliefs of what good management practices are have also evolved. I learnt about the Japanese style of management and observed examples of what is called Japanese-style management as well as its distinctive characteristics such as life-time employment, collective responsibility and long-term perspective. Although I do not believe that all of the Japanese practices are applicable outside the Asian region, I do believe that using at least some of them can provide a good alternative to Western practices for managing firms and be a source of competitive advantage for many of you, who can pursue careers in multinational companies.” 

After the ceremony, each graduate was awarded with a diploma and the joy of the moment was captured in their beaming smiles. All of the graduates then gathered together to toss their red caps in the air to the chant of “We are APU” which was met with thunderous applause. The freshly minted graduates left the ceremony in a joyous rush - each one eager to start out on their new life journey. 

The graduation ceremony was also broadcast live on the internet via Ustream. Footage can be viewed here.
APU Gallery　
https://www.apu.ac.jp/home/gallery/article/?storyid=95&lang=english

 

Related Link:

The Fall 2014 Graduation Ceremony

Notes from the President and Vice-Presidents