Class of 2030 begins Northwestern journey with vision, curiosity, and community

Northwestern University in Qatar welcomed the Class of 2030 at its 19th Convocation ceremony, formally inducting its newest students into the Northwestern community and marking the start of their undergraduate journey.

In his address to the incoming class, Dean and CEO Marwan M. Kraidy focused on basira, an Arabic word associated with insight, vision, and discernment.

“Basira is often translated as ‘insight,’ but it means much more than that,” Kraidy said. “It is intellectual clarity, moral discernment, and the wisdom to recognize deeper truths beneath the surface. It is seeing not only with the eyes, but also with the mind, the character, and the heart.”

Building on his message of tajdeed, or renewal, to the Class of 2029, Kraidy told students that basira was especially important at a time when artificial intelligence, technology, and the rapid circulation of information are changing how people understand and engage with the world.

He described three dimensions of basira, imagination, integrity, and wisdom, and urged students to see their education as more than the accumulation of knowledge.

“The greatest gift a university can offer is the ability to transform knowledge into understanding, understanding into wisdom, and wisdom into action,” he said.

Kraidy also spoke about the responsibility that comes with working in journalism, communication, media, and other fields where technology increasingly shapes how information is created and consumed. Facts, evidence, context, and empathy, he said, remain essential.

“Because in a world overflowing with information, what will distinguish you is not simply how much you know,” he told the students. “It will be how deeply you see.”

He encouraged the Class of 2030 to make Northwestern Qatar’s values of excellence, community, collaboration, and sustainability part of their everyday experience. “These values are not simply aspirations,” he said. “They are habits to be acquired. They are commitments to be renewed. They are ways of practicing basira every day.”

Northwestern University Provost Erik Luijten, who assumed the role on July 1, 2026, joined Kraidy in welcoming the incoming class.

Luijten noted that despite having spent more than 17 years at Northwestern, he and the students shared the experience of starting something new.

“When it comes to the role of provost, I, like you, am a first-year,” he said.

Much of Luijten’s advice centered on curiosity. He encouraged students to keep asking questions, seek help when they need it, and resist the fear of making mistakes.

“Questions are the catalysts of our fields,” he said. “We believe that asking ‘how’ or ‘why’ and challenging existing assumptions expands our understanding of the world and allows us to improve it.”

He also stressed that learning is strengthened by working with others.

“We all need sounding boards and people to challenge us,” Luijten said. “We enhance our learning through talking with others; through explaining our ideas to our peers and listening to theirs; by sharing our thinking through writing, reporting, filmmaking and other creative work.”

Concluding his remarks, Luijten encouraged students to take advantage of both the academic opportunities and the community they will find at Northwestern.

“This is where you will ask big questions, take risks, grow as much from your mistakes as from your achievements, and find a new community that will be with you for the next four years and long into your future,” he said.

Offering the student perspective, Northwestern Qatar Student Government President Timaa Kamar, Class of 2027, reflected on how her own understanding of university life had changed since she first arrived at NU-Q.

Kamar said she entered Northwestern focused on the projects she wanted to complete, the opportunities she hoped to pursue, and the goals she wanted to achieve. As she begins her final year, she said the experiences and relationships formed along the way have become just as important.

She recalled classmates who became close friends during long nights editing films, professors who pushed and encouraged her, and faculty and staff who helped her navigate university life.

“Somewhere along this journey, the people around me stopped being simply classmates, professors, and faculty,” Kamar said. “They became an important part of this chapter of my life.”

She encouraged the Class of 2030 to stay ambitious, take opportunities, and try things that may initially feel uncomfortable, while remembering that university life is about more than the next achievement.

“But don’t forget that while you might be trying to build a resume or portfolio, you’re building a life too,” she said.

Kamar concluded by asking the students to think about what they will remember four years from now.

“I hope you realize that what you gained was much more than a list of accomplishments,” she said. “I hope you gained four years of friendship, community, growth, and people who made the journey worth taking.”

The ceremony brought together students, faculty, staff, and university leaders to welcome the Class of 2030 and mark the beginning of the new academic year at Northwestern Qatar.