INDIA’S SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP IS NEEDED GLOBALLY, AMBASSADOR DOBELLE TELLS GRADUATES AT SRM UNIVERSITY
Ambassador Evan Samuel Dobelle, former Chief of Protocol and Assistant Secretary of State in the Jimmy Carter administration called on the
graduating class of SRM University to love and protect democracy. “ You are in
a participatory democracy. You have to tune in your own passion and happiness
to love and protect democracy”, Ambassador Dobelle said.
Ambassador Dobelle was the Chief Guest at SRM University’s
Special Convocation that saw more than 6000 students getting degrees in
Engineering and technology, Science and Humanities, Medical and Health Sciences
and Management. 190 students were awarded certificates of merit for their
accomplishments in different disciplines. One of the highlights of the Special
Convocation was the conferment of Doctor of Literature, D.Litt (Honoris Causa) on
Justice Dr. AR. Lakshmanan, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India and Ms
Saina Nehwal, ace shuttle badminton player and Olympic Bronze Medalist.
“You are the symbol of your generation. You are the face of
India. Economically the country is growing so fast and you are the global
supplier of man power and woman power. The United States has the highest regard
for India. You are pioneers in every area; and you don’t have to go to Russia
or the United States. They come here. Look around you today. You are the best
and the brightest generation of the world”, Ambassador Dobelle told SRM
University graduates.
“The whole world is looking at you”, Justice Dr. AR.
Lakshmanan said while giving his acceptance speech for the D.Litt degree. “ You
are living in a fast changing world. Young minds like you have to think
innovatively. You have to have the ability to look beyond the immediate and
think of the future of the nation”, he added. Justive Dr. AR. Lakshmanan made a
passionate plea to popularize organ donation. “There is the need and necessity
to create awareness”, he maintained adding that every departed soul has the
potential of saving eight lives through donation of their organs. “This is a
noble gesture of the highest order” he said.
Recalling that she never wanted to be a sportsperson but of
a journey that started in Hyderabad with Karate as a young girl, Ms Saina
Nehwal said that she was lucky to play shuttle badminton at national and
international levels. “Today shuttle badminton is the second most huge sport in
India than ten years ago. It is very different” she said. “This is not the end.
You have more to achieve. Exercise or have some physical activity for some
thirty or forty minutes daily. Stay strong and fit”, Ms Nehwal advised the
graduating class.
“We are proud when you all graduate from here with degrees
and with distinctions. But what makes us happier is when you have also
contributed your might to the betterment of society. Knowledge and intellectual
power alone does not propel India as a Great Power or a Super Power—India
becomes truly a great nation only when the bridge between the haves and the
have- nots narrows “, the Vice Chancellor Professor Prabir K Bagchi said in his
welcome address.
The Chancellor of SRM University Dr. P. Sathyanarayanan presided
over the Special Convocation.
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