Graduation Day 2015

More than 144 MBA and DBA students, representing more than 30 nationalities, and their families and friends, special guests and stakeholders, embassy and partner university representatives, faculty and administrative staff, gathered in the conference hall of Maastricht School of Management on 3 September to celebrate the school’s largest and most festive event of the year, Graduation Day.

Mr. René van der Linden, Chairman of the MSM board, started the Ceremony with praising the qualities that in his eyes make MSM a unique school: “MSM represents unity and variety.”

This year, Mr. van der Linden made a special request to the new graduates: “Wherever you go whatever you do, please promote mutual understanding and respect. We are confronted today with really horrible events. It moves my heart to see all the people who have had to flee to try to find a safe haven in Europe. We have to be the guests of all these people who need our help. Wherever you go, wherever you stay, please do the same. Because our world needs peace and stability.”

Prof. Wim Naudé, Dean Director of Maastricht School of Management, echoed the same message when he said: “Where I grew up in Africa we have a saying, namely that people are people through other people. We need to relate, especially at a time when whole countries and communities are falling apart, being ripped to pieces by hate and fanaticism that have no time or tolerance for the most important things in life: relationships and health.”

As every year, the Graduation Day ceremony was a moment of joy and celebration but also of analysis and reflection on the meaning of success. Throughout the speeches and in the choice of two classical music interludes, the focus lied on the importance of family support, a healthy work-life balance, good teamwork, and the power of the mindset when dealing with loss or failure.

One of the keynote speakers of the ceremony was the renowned former Dutch football player Mr. Hans van Breukelen. Mr. van Breukelen, who is now the ambassador of MSM’s new executive MBA program in sports management, shared his personal story to demonstrate how it is possible to completely reverse a seemingly hopeless situation by changing one’s mindset. In his speech “From loser to winner”, he told the audience the story of his remarkable come-back that led to the title of “Dutch goal keeper of the year” in 1988 for helping his team win the European Football Championships Cup. He quoted another Dutch football player, Dirk Kuyt, to explain his definition of success: ‘I can lose, but I never feel like a loser because I did everything to win’. I like his mentality. Winning is more than being the best. It is getting the best out of yourself.”

MSM alumnus Mr. Sandor Erdei had another inspiring personal story and career path to share with the new graduates. After completing his MBA studies at MSM in 1993, Mr. Erdei left his modest civil servant position in Hungary to start his own company in Maastricht, thanks to local funding. “After my MBA degree, I came up with the idea to bring local and regional governments and chambers together from the Netherlands and Hungary and to set up a bridge head organization to support companies in doing business in these countries. It started as a non-profit organization and the name became Development Bridge Head (DBH). Besides the Mayor of my hometown Debrecen, the Deputy Mayor of Maastricht, Mr. Theo Bovens (currently the governor of the Province of Limburg) played an important role in the setting up of DBH, for which I am very grateful.”

When he revealed his next business move, Mr. Erdei proved that the local authorities in Limburg had made the right choice in investing in him: “DBH keeps growing and now has offices in 7 countries and business partners over 40 countries globally. In his toast at the occasion of DBH’s 20th anniversary last year, Mr. Bovens kindly invited me back to Maastricht. I am glad to announce that DBH this year will open its second office in the Netherlands, in the city of Maastricht!”

After the two keynote speeches came the moment that the students had been waiting for. All students were personally called on stage to receive their MBA degree. They are now officially part of the international MSM alumni community.

Like previous years MSM awarded two awards. The Prof. Ben Veltman Award for the best MBA thesis was awarded to Yosief Iyassu who received the certificate and the 1000 euro cheque from Prof. Veltman himself and Prof. Naudé.

Dr. Stefaan Schatteman, the winner of this year’s Elizabeth Strouven Prize awarded by the Elizabeth Strouven Foundation in Maastricht, shared his recipe for success: “Good luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

These were all powerful words and inspiring personal testimonials to reflect upon, as the Eurasia String Quartet played the two musical interludes by Ludwig van Beethoven that had been carefully selected for the ceremony. “The music conveys a lesson about heroes, leadership, and as always in human life, love and loss,” said Prof. Naudé.

In the final speech of the ceremony, Ms. Olga Paez, the class representative of the residential MBA31 program 2014-2015, evoked the many good but sometimes also challenging moments of the past year in Maastricht, the deep friendships that had developed among the students, the knowledge, skills and sense of responsibility that they had acquired. The lively and colourful video clip featuring photographs of her fellow students and special highlights of the program was particularly well received by the audience.

Later that day, after all the joyous celebrations with family and friends, Ms. Paez immediately put words to action. She sent the following question to an MSM staff member: “Do you know if we can donate some food and clothes and kitchen supplies to the refugees who are staying in Maastricht? Since our friends are leaving soon, we think that this might come in handy for people in need…”

We would like to thank and congratulate once again all our 2014-2015 MSM graduates. We are proud of you!

Please click here for the pictures of the MSM Graduation Day 2015
The full-recording of the Ceremony is also available on MSM’s YouTube channel.
The compilation will follow soon.