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On August 30th, Sumy State University hosted a spectacular major holiday symbolizing the countdown of the new academic year - the student initiation ceremony. Numerous staff of SumDU, senior students, families and friends gathered at the university square to congratulate yesterday's schoolchildren.
Celebrations have traditionally begun with the introduction of the national flag on the square. This year the main symbol of Ukraine was put at the university square by a participant of military operations and international peacekeeping efforts, awardee of the “Medal of the Peacemaker” and other state awards and honors of the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Colonel Ihor V. Lehankov, accompanied by master students who achieved high results in education, research activity and sport. The introduction of flags of the university's institutes and faculties by the students` deans was accompanied by a storm of applause.
Anatoliy Vasylyev, the rector of Sumy State University - professor, honored worker of education of Ukraine, Chairman of the Council of rectors of higher educational institutions of Sumy region, congratulated first-year students: “First of all, I greet you, our freshmen. You are both the masters and the subjects of this celebration. I want to emphasize that at our university one of the foundations, the philosophy of activity - is the figure of the student, this is the principle of student-centeredness. Dear freshmen, today you represent all of fourteen thousand students and all those who entered the university for the first time this year. SumDU provides every opportunity to be proud of our educational institution, because the university is a recognized leader of the Ukrainian and European educational and scientific space, confirming our position in the world rankings. SumDU students are variegated, they praise the university with numerous victories in student research competitions and student Olympiads. You entered a successful university, so do your best to be successful. We – teachers, scientists - are your friends, we are your companions in joint exploration of knowledge tops. Praise the university, multiply its traditions! Good luck to you all!"
The most triumphant moment after the introduction - the proclamation of a freshman's oath, outlining the basic life principles of a real student, and the presentation of a symbolic student ID card. The right to read the oath was given to Vladyslav Piven, the first year student of the Oleg Balatsky Academic and Research Institute of Finance, Economics and Management, “A” grade pupil, the prize-winner of the All-Ukrainian Student Olympiad in History and the All-Ukrainian competition for defense of research papers of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, a graduate of the Sumy general education school №21. Together with Vladyslav, hundreds of SumDU first-year students took a solemn oath to be an honored student of SumDU, to acquire knowledge tirelessly, to be disciplined, honest, decent, to learn to overcome difficulties, to be persistent in achieving goals, to master the chosen profession in order to be the most useful to the people of Ukraine.
The traditional adornment of the celebration was a rich entertainment program from the cultural and artistic center of SumDU: songs, bright vocal and choreographic productions, flash mob.
