Classmates and spectators at Saturday's commencement ceremony for students of the American University in Cairo (AUC) observed a moment of silence to remember Omar Ali Mohsen, an AUC senior who was killed at the Port Said Stadium earlier this month. Mohsen was to have been among the students receiving degrees at the event. "The students' grief and sadness at the death of their classmate Omar Mohsen is shared by all of us, and it will shape this ceremony," said AUC President Lisa Anderson. "But it has redoubled their commitment to make this country and this world one in which they will thrive and in which their own children will be able to live with dignity and pride." Anderson announced the establishment of the Omar Mohsen Scholarship Fund for scholar-athletes. The university will also confer a new annual award, the Omar Mohsen Athletic Achievement Cup. The inaugural award was given posthumously to Mohsen ; it was accepted by his father who also received the Parents Association Cup. The tragedy of Mohsen 's untimely death was referenced in all of the ceremony's speeches. Commencement speaker MP Ziad Bahaaeddin -- class of 1987 -- who is also an AUC trustee, and the director of the Egyptian Initiative for the Prevention of Corruption, began his remarks by eulogising Mohsen. "Omar's spirit and memory will live amongst us and embody the values that may be the only hope for our country," he said. Bahaaeddin went on to talk about the most critical injustices facing Egypt, including abuses of women's rights, sectarianism and poverty. He declared that Egyptians must insist on their right to a dignified life and to equality under the law. He also urged the students to join political parties, to argue and to make mistakes but never to be careless. "The education that you have achieved in this university will put you in good stead to contribute to the economic and social renaissance of Egypt. So don't take it for granted. There is no alternative to hard work and to firm commitments to your country," he added. During the commencement, 406 undergraduate students received Bachelor's degrees. In addition to the 63 who graduated with honours, 58 with high honours and 25 with highest honours, several students were chosen for individual awards recognising their academic excellence and contributions to campus and community life. The president's Cup and the associated Mohamed M El-Beleidy Academic Award, both of which go to the student with the highest grade point average, were shared by Judith Maite Hellebronth in communication and media arts, Ahmed Ismail Khairat in economics, Laila Abdel-Hamid Hosni in business administration, and Ahmed Abdel-Rahman Ahmed in actuarial science. The Nadia Younes Award for Public and Humanitarian Service went to Malak Saad ; the Ahmed H Zewail Prize for Excellence in the Sciences and the Humanities was given to Hadeel Hisham ; the Ahmed El-Mehallawi Family Award, given to a senior who has demonstrated academic achievement and community involvement through extra- curricular activities, was awarded to Nadeem Abdel-Gawad ; the Dr Abdel-Rahman El-Sawy Award, for the Public School Scholarship Fund student with the highest grade point average in the engineering department, was awarded to Hazem Fattouh ; and the Engineer Bahgat Hassanein Award in Construction Engineering was awarded to Sherif Khalil, for achieving the highest overall grade point average in Construction Engineering. Earlier during the day, 133 graduate students received their advanced degrees. Graduate commencement speaker, literary translator Humphrey Davies, noted the particular achievement of master's conferees for whom English is a second language. "It puts you in a bracket occupied by no more than five per cent of the world's population, perhaps far less," he said to the graduating class. photo: Mohamed Muharram Minister of Culture Shakir Abdel-Hamid inaugurated the latest exhibition of paintings by artist Ahmed Shiha at the Cairo Opera House Salah Taher Hall. Present at the opening ceremony were the former director of the Cairo Opera House Abdel-Moneim Kamel and its newly appointed director flautist Inas Abdel-Dayem as well as a number of senior officials at the Ministry of Culture such as the head of the National Centre for Cinema Khaled Abdel-Geleil, cinematographer and filmmaker Tarek El-Telmesani, cartoonist George Bahgory and the artist's daughter actress Hanna Shiha with her two young sons and husband. photos: Ayman Barayez The Garden City Lions Club (GCLC), headed by Awatef Serageddin, gave a seminar to discuss the latest issues of politics and art with members of the GCLC along with actor Mahmoud Qabil. The seminar -- conducted by Serageddin herself -- discussed various art-related issues including the latest incident when the crew of a film were banned from shooting at Ain Shams University. At the end of the seminar, GCLC members bid the Algerian Ambassador to Egypt Abdel-Qader Haggar farewell. The President of the International Union of Muslim- Christian-Jewish Dialogue and Peace Education Ali El-Samman welcomed guests to his residence in Giza for a cultural evening. They discussed the political unrest that Egypt has witnessed in this critical period of its history and the projects proposed by Cairo Governor Abdel-Qawi Khalifa to clean and beautify the Cairo by training the young. Among the attendees were Vice President of the National Council of Human Rights Mohamed Fayek, President of the General Federation of NGOs Abdel-Aziz Hegazi, prominent columnist Salah Montasser, media figure Moufid Fawzi, Deputy Minister of State for Administrative Development Ashraf Abdel-Wahab, Executive President of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority Amr Badawi, former governor of Luxor Samir Farag and former minister of Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish. photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid Canadian Ambassador to Egypt David Drake gave a reception at his residence in Zamalek to welcome the Canadian singer Neema who has announced her collaboration with the Egyptian Salalem band for a concert at the Cairo Opera House. The Alef Bookstores, Maadi has launched its new monthly salon featuring novelist and satirist Osama Gharib, who explained that the results of the People's Assembly elections reflected the views of the Egyptian people but not those of demonstrators in Tahrir Square, discussing a number of issues besides. The Defile d'Egypte, a leading company in organising exhibitions and fashion shows held its 29th Cairo Int'l KIDS fashion show and exhibition on the 15,000 sq m fair grounds at the Cairo International Conference Centre under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In Defile KIDS, more than 255 brands of kids fashion welcomed professionals from the world of fashion from Egypt, Syria, the Gulf countries and Africa. Defile KIDS brings together all tastes, styles and colours for the summer of 2012 and the most important names in kids fashion: ready-to-wear, designer and necessity clothing. El Sakia's ninth Feature Film Festival concluded its activities last week; and members of the jury -- including art director Said El-Shimi, director Adel Yehia and editor Ghada Gebara -- announced the awards. The best actor award went to Hisham Mansour for his role in the film Maw'ed Gharami (A Date), while rising star Amy received the best actress award for her role in the film Bard Yanayer (The Cold of January). The best cinematography award went to Atef Nashed for the film Al-Qet Abu Takia Hamra (The Cat with the Red Hat). The best editor prize was given to George Adel for the film Eish (Bread), the best script writer award to Tamer Sami Aziz for the film Kama fi Mer'aa (Like in a Mirror). The Sakia's bronze award, on the other hand, went to the film Kawaleis (Backstage) by Kirolos Talaat Amgad, while the silver award went to 41 Days by Ahmed Abdel-Aziz and the gold prize was granted to Tamer Tar (Tamer Flew Away), directed by Rimon Boutros Ghali.
