Graduation 2020: Champagne corks popping in front of the screen

The final exams are done, the joy among the 146 new FernFH-Alumni is huge! These great achievements naturally want to be celebrated, even in times of Corona. On Thursday, July 2, the FernFH invited to a virtual graduation for the first time. After all, you can celebrate everywhere, even in front of the screen! And so, the alumni let the champagne corks pop in a small circle of their loved ones and together with all online celebrators. "We have practiced many new rules in the last few weeks, and we want to stick to them today”, Martin Staudinger, Head of Academic Board of FernFH, welcomed the alumni and their guests from the screen. The guests of honour were President Alexander Van der Bellen, Governor of the Provice of Lower Austria Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Klaus Schneeberger, Mayor of Wiener Neustadt.

"Studying can be quite exhausting, it's not easy to keep going", said Alexander Van der Bellen in his greeting to the proud graduates. "The commitment to be able to complete their studies under these circumstances makes the 2020 graduating class a very special one. Congratulations!" These congratulations were joined by Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Mayor Klaus Schneeberger: "A good education is essential in today's world. With the completion of your studies you have reached an important milestone in your life", said Mikl-Leitner.

Graduation ceremony and "15 seconds of fame"

A special highlight of the academic ceremony was the awarding of the academic degrees and the vow in which the graduates promise to always prove themselves worthy of the academic degree.

The alumni actively and creatively contributed to the virtual celebration in a very special way: In "15 seconds of fame" they talked very personally about their time at the FernFH and thanked everyone who stood by them during this intensive time. "I am very proud of you, dear graduates. With a lot of self-discipline and motivation you have successfully mastered your studies alongside your professional and private life. For this you deserve my great respect", said Axel Jungwirth, CEO of FernFH.

As part of this graduation some anniversaries were also celebrated: Nicole Zink is the 1500th graduate in total, she completed the “BA in Aging Services Management". In "Business Administration and Psychology" there was the 1000th Bachelor degree from the FernFH and a round number also comes from the “BA in Business Informatics": With it’s graduates it reached the four hundred mark. In total, the FernFH has now awarded 1582 Bachelor and Master degrees.