The first Congress of graduates of Yanka Kupala State University gathered representatives of several generations of University graduates

The event was held on February 15 and became one of the main events dedicated to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Alma mater.

Delegates of the Congress-graduates of Yanka Kupala State University of different years, which have succeeded in their professions, became successful public and political figures of our country. In total, the event was attended by 125 delegates as well as the University employees who, after graduating from Kupala University, work in their Alma mater. The official part of the event was preceeded by meetings with graduates at the University's faculties. Graduates were able to communicate with their teachers and, walking through the corridors and classrooms of their academic buildings, remember their student years. – I graduated from Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno almost 30 years ago, the editor-in-chief of the publishing house Zvyazda said. – And it seems that only now I realize that my student years were the best. Here, at my native History Department, I met my future wife, with whom we have lived together for more than 25 years. I would like to note that I received good knowledge at the University, which provides a strong basis for moving forward and achieving success in the profession. Welcoming the participants of the first Congress of graduates, the rector of Yanka Kupala State University Irina Kiturko noted that all those gathered in the hall of the University are not visitors, but at home. – I want you to feel like you have come home today. You are in your Alma mater. Here you have received the necessary professional competencies, found friends, and some may have created families, – Irina Kiturko addressed the delegates. – We could not help but celebrate the anniversary of the University together with our graduates. This is a celebration of many generations of our employees, students and graduates. I would like to thank you for coming here today after leaving your business and covering the distance and helping us realize our ambitious idea of holding the country's first alumni Congress. During the Congress, the participants discussed the directions of further cooperation between graduates and current employees and teachers of the University. It is worth noting that the Association of graduates of Yanka Kupala State University has existed since 1997. During this time, a number of joint projects were implemented to train highly qualified specialists for various sectors of the University's economy and social sphere. – In the future, we plan to hold such large forums as the alumni Congress at least once in five years. In addition, the Council of the Association of University graduates has been created and is working, which solves all pressing issues as they arise, – the rector of Yanka Kupala State University, Irina Kiturko said. During the meeting, the participants discussed the activities prescribed in the Roadmap for the development of the Association of graduates of Yanka Kupala State University. Joint seminars, master classes, concerts, festivals and tourist gatherings are planned as part of its implementation. A program of postgraduate support for University graduates will also be developed, and the exposition of the University's history Museum will be supplemented with new materials based on the memories of graduates. During the event, Tamara Korenko, a graduate of the Faculty of Mathematics in 1956, shared her memories related to her Alma mater. Despite her respectful age, she also arrived as a delegate to the first Congress of graduates. – I am very grateful that I was invited to this meeting, - said Tamara Korenko. – I am very happy to visit this temple of science again. In those years, studying at the Institute was the limit of my dreams. I went to a rural school, and it was 18 kilometers away from my house to the high school. But I had such a desire to study that, after finishing school, I still decided to go to Institute. And at first I didn't believe I was a student. I kept wanting to pinch myself: I couldn't believe it was true. Therefore, today's meeting is a great gift for me, an opportunity to remember my younger years. Other participants of the Congress also told about their memories and their vision of further cooperation between graduates and the University. In the end, Sergey Maskevich, a graduate of 1974 and the Director of the International State Environmental Institute named after A. D. Sakharov, became the new Chairman of the alumni Association of Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno. – I am grateful to everyone for their trust, - Sergey Maskevich said. – I have never lost touch with my Alma mater – Yanka Kupala Grodno State University. At all times, this University has developed intensively and has always been among the leaders. I have a feeling that for a long time Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno is a little ahead of its time. And I can say: if you want to know what trends in education and science will be relevant tomorrow, then look at what new ideas and projects are being implemented at Kupala University today. This can be confirmed by holding the country's first alumni Congress at Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno. Perhaps in the future this experience will be adopted by other institutions of higher education of the Republic. Summing up the event, the participants agreed that the forum will certainly contribute to the further development of cooperation between the University and the alumni Association.