VCU Qatar Day 2014
Did you see the camel on campus yesterday? That’s right. Tully made her appearance in the Commons Plaza as part of Virginia Commonwealth University’s fifth annual Qatar Day.
This festive day, sponsored and organized by the VCU Student Government Association, transforms the plaza into a microcosm of our sister campus in Doha, Qatar. Twenty-four VCUQatar student leaders, faculty and staff have made the trek to Richmond this week to showcase a slice of Qatari culture and to participate in Qatar Day and a weeklong Leadership Exchange Program.
This event celebrates our pride in VCUQatar. We were the first university invited into Education City 15 years ago. Since that time, VCUQatar students and faculty have been helping to transform their region, using art as an innovation tool. They, too, understand the important role a global research university can have in a region. VCUQatar serves as a destination in the Middle East for some of the world’s best artists, designers and communicators, hosting lecture series, exhibitions and open forums to push and cross the boundaries of art and design. And it is a magnet for talented students. Just this past April, the Arab Engineering Bureau recognized four students from VCUQatar’s graphic and interior design programs for creative achievement and potential and for design excellence.
While the VCU in Doha may seem worlds apart from the VCU in Richmond, we actually share a great deal in common. You see, each campus is an important center of government, business, technology and culture in its region — a place where leadership, opportunity and innovation meld together and are advanced by a diverse community of people who dream big and work tirelessly to redefine the human experience.
And our students share more than a university. They share a passion to lead — to be a voice in shaping their university, their cities and their future. So, no matter where we are in the world, it is our duty and our pleasure to create and support opportunities for our students to engage in the world they will be asked to lead.
I am proud that these students have taken the initiative to continue the exchange this year and to broaden the experience to include an opportunity for the VCUQatar students to host seven of our Richmond students, Oct. 11-18.
I urge you to follow these students and their adviser via Facebook as they travel to our sister campus in Doha, Qatar, and continue to share their perspectives and ideas, exploring what it means to be a VCU student and a leader.
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