Graduation Ceremony (Feierliche Exmatrikulation)

The university community is celebrating its 782 graduates who completed their studies between April and September: 227 of them returned to the university town today, bringing with them over 600 relatives and friends who had supported them throughout their studies and are sharing in their joy.

Nina-Maria Mixtacki, the Protestant student chaplain, was delighted to see the church full as she welcomed the congregation to her church and, right at the start, offered the graduates an ancient blessing to take with them: the so-called Aaronic Blessing, which to this day concludes many church services: “‘May God bless you and keep you; may God make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may God lift up his face upon you and give you peace.’ I wish you all that you may walk your path through life feeling safe and protected. May God look upon you with kindness, turn towards you and, most importantly, grant you peace.”

Vice-Chancellor Volker Tolkmitt recalled the challenges to student life brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. “You can say with pride: we are pioneers; we were the first to try out new ways of studying and to master them successfully.” Reflecting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the terror inflicted by Hamas in Israel, Tolkmitt emphasised: “Unfortunately, your time at university has also been marked by further challenges that were unimaginable to us until very recently. You are a generation that, fortunately, has grown up taking it for granted that war and terror are no longer tools for imposing one’s own interests on others… You must now also learn to fight for freedom, democracy and humanist values, and not to take them for granted. I have every confidence in you.”

The university was able to secure the services of the successful entrepreneur Viola Klein from Dresden to deliver the keynote speech. Klein set up her first business after German reunification; today she is the managing director of Saxonia Systems Holding. She is also involved, amongst other things, as a member of the board of trustees of the German AIDS Foundation and with the HOPE Cape Town Foundation.

Klein spoke very personally about her unusual journey as a qualified nursery teacher in the former GDR, her experience of unemployment after German reunification, and the rocky road to entrepreneurship. “Now, at the start of your professional lives, you’re asking yourselves: What’s most important to me?” Viola Klein echoed Steve Jobs’ advice: “I loved what I did… You must find that one thing you love – both in your job and in your private life.” That, she said, is the most important decision. “So make sure you find a company that suits you, with people who share similar values to you.”

For the graduates, the emotional highlight following the academic dismissal by Vice-Chancellor Volker Tolkmitt was the now outwardly visible symbol of their new academic status. All 227 were called up by name. Lecturers from the five faculties offered their congratulations and presented the certificates – and finally placed the bachelor’s caps on their former students’ heads.

Of the 782 graduates aged between 20 and 59, 39 per cent are women. 28 per cent are international students from 24 countries. With 254 graduates, the Faculty Media Sciences accounts for the highest proportion. The most common qualification awarded is the Bachelor’s degree (441). A final grade of 1.0 was achieved four times. The overall average is 1.9.

As of 16 October 2023, exactly 5,974 students are enrolled at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences. Among them are the 1,400 first-year students for the winter semester, who began their studies at the end of September and were formally welcomed into the university community at the same venue on 4 October. With these new students, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences has seen a 15 per cent increase in new enrolments compared with the previous year.