On Friday, accadis Hochschule said goodbye to 147 graduates during the Graduation Ceremony in the Bad Homburg Kurhaus. Special congratulations were extended for an average grade of 1.9 in the Bachelor's degree group, an average of 1.7 in the Master's degree program and three times the top grade of 1.0.
30th Graduation Ceremony of the Bad Homburg Educational Establishment
The ceremonial bestowal of degrees in the Landgraf-Friedrich-Saal in Bad Homburg's Kurhaus has long been a tradition: "We are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year," says a delighted Managing Director Gerda Meinl-Kexel. In 1980, she founded the FTO Bad Homburger Akademie für Betriebswirtschaft und Fremdsprachen, which developed into today's accadis Hochschule. In 1993, the educational institution awarded the 1st Bachelor's degree in Germany and the 1st graduating class was awarded the degree "Bachelor of Business Administration".
Celebration marked by rituals such as 'Turning the Tassel' and 'Throwing the Cap'
Every year at the end of October, the graduates march into the Landgraf-Friedrich-Saal to Wagner's Tannhäuser, dressed in caps and gowns. "The moment when the melody sounds and the graduates enter the hall still gives me goose bumps, even after 30 years," says Meinl-Kexel. In addition to the traditional Anglo-Saxon gowns, the well-known rituals of 'turning the tassel' and 'throwing the cap' are also part of the tradition.
Well-known speakers and congratulatory addresses from the world of politics
In addition to addresses from politicians, for which Boris Rhein, Prime Minister of Hesse, took the time this year, each year distinguished speakers are invited to deliver inspiring words to the young professionals. Among others, Markus Gürne, Michael Groß and Béla Réthy have already appeared on stage. At the end of the ceremony, the graduates themselves take the floor and reflect on their time as students with a great portion of humor.
Anniversary made history with Alexander Preiss on the grand piano
"Thanks to you, the 30th Graduation Ceremony at accadis University of Applied Sciences will be forever remembered." With these words, Vice President Prof. Andrea Hüttmann thanked pianist and Bachelor's degree graduate Alexander Preiss. Parallel to his studies at accadis, he is studying at the Kaleidos Academy of Music in Switzerland and is a member of Lev Natochenny's Master Class. On Friday evening, he delighted the audience with a love song by Robert Schumann, the "Moonlight Sonata" by Ludwig van Beethoven and an excerpt from the "Five Pieces for Piano" by Jean Sibelius.
Also pilots among the graduates
Every graduation ceremony features a highlight: this year, for example, the first group of airline pilots graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from accadis University of Applied Sciences. The experienced men and women brought their broad range of vision as well as their leadership and life experience to the lectures and proved to be extremely disciplined and motivated as they familiarized themselves with the novel topics of business administration.
Graduate Oliver Matz, Senior First Officer Airbus A380 and Best Student of the Year, spoke on behalf of all commercial pilots in the program and shared with the audience his journey as a Senior First Officer to becoming an MBA graduate. It was a moving moment, especially for CEO Prof. Christoph Kexel, who launched the MBA pilot group in 2021. "Family members and life partners thanked us. On the one hand, of course, for this option and the security it provides for the future, but also for the flexibility during the studies," Kexel describes. Most graduates can and want to continue flying. Some graduates want to supplement their flying career with management tasks in an airline operation, while others want to take the opportunity to become self-employed.
The MBA for commercial pilots will be continued as a part-time program. "In this manner, we can offer pilots an attractive further education option even after the crisis," says Kexel. accadis Hochschule used the experience and valuable input from the first 19 pilots and worked with them to further develop the pilot MBA. The new cohort already started at the beginning of October.
accadis alumnus and successful start-up founder inspires accadis graduates
Under the motto "Alumni take the stage", Bledion Vladi, who was on stage as a graduate in the Kurhaus only last year, also addressed this year's graduates. As founder and CPO of Preventio, founder and Executive Director of Growunited as well as Country Leader at MasterPeace Germany, he has already gained valuable experience that he passed on to his successors. In 2018, Bledion Vladi stood on stage at the Kurhaus for the first time when he received his certificate for the International Baccalaureate, which he completed at accadis International School. This was followed last year by a Bachelor's degree in Digital Business Management. A year later, he is on stage as a successful founder: among other things, he founded Preventio with two fellow students - a start-up that predicts building damage using artificial intelligence and can thus prevent damage worth billions of Euros. With their idea, the young founders secured a pre-seed financing of 1.35 million Euros in April 2022.