IDS graduates travelled from around the world to celebrate with family and friends in a memorable graduation ceremony at the Brighton Dome.
With whoops and waves IDS students from the 2014/15 cohort took to the stage at Brighton Dome last week to receive their Masters and Doctoral certificates from IDS Director Professor Melissa Leach and the Chancellor of the University of Sussex. The IDS graduates travelled from as far away as Indonesia and Colombia to celebrate with family and friends in a memorable graduation ceremony. They are the first cohort of students who graduate from IDS under the auspices of being ranked the first in the world for Development Studies, with the University of Sussex, and a cheer of ‘IDS – number one’ went up as they gathered together for photographs.
‘The world needs development leaders more than ever’
In her message to the students IDS Director Professor Melissa Leach wrote “the world needs development leaders more than ever to tackle the global challenges we all face – inequality, sustainability and security”. Later that day as the graduates gathered with teaching staff, librarians and supervisors in IDS, Professor Leach elaborated on the kind of leaders IDS produces: “people who can think critically, can work with others, have the capacity to challenge orthodoxies and unpick their own assumptions, who can build alliances and move forward together”.
Graduates face a challenging and complex world
IDS Director of Teaching and Learning, Jethro Pettit celebrated the future of the graduates in what is a very challenging and complex world, he said “if there is anything that gives me hope it is you; you have the hope, passion, compassion and intelligence to give back to the world”.
Dr Pettit also reached out to the IDS graduates, inviting them to stay in touch and remain part of the IDS community through becoming active in IDS’ global alumni network. With graduates in over 125 countries around the world, the IDS alumni network is more than a social network, it is a valuable and useful professional network – a body of people who share the capacity to think critically, challenge orthodoxies and unpick assumptions – with whom IDS and IDS alumni continue to tackle today’s current and emergent development challenges.
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