The College Principal, Professor Peter Finn, is pictured with Lord Mayor of Belfast, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir; Commencement Speaker, Professor Thomas Dukes from Troy University, Montgomery, Alabama; as well as Liberal Arts with History graduand, Sinead Basketfield. Sinead is a past pupil of Our Lady and St Patrick’s College Knock and Lagan College Belfast. During her three-year course, Sinead was a peer tutor in the College’s highly-acclaimed Writing Centre, and she has obtained a first-class honours degree. During his commencement speech, Professor Dukes spoke about the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. In his response, the Lord Mayor talked about the peace process in Northern Ireland and the task of building one city for all in Belfast. Bishop Anthony Farquhar attended the ceremony on behalf of the Trustees whilst Sammy Douglas MLA was a special guest of the College. Eighty-seven students of the Liberal Arts will graduate on Thursday, 4 July.
A number of special prizes were presented on the night:
- Student of the Year – Paul McAteer (pictured above),
- Entrepreneurship Cup – Leanne Montgomery and Briana Teague,
- Chengelo Prize – Finnian Coyle,
- International Student of the Year – Michaela Mallon.