Graduation 2013: a bittersweet farewell

We salute the SAIS Bologna Class of 2013, who finished the year in style and celebrated with faculty, staff, families and friends at the end-of-year ceremony on Saturday.

Most of the class will be going to Washington for the next academic year before graduating from SAIS with a Master of Arts in International Relations a year from now.

Eleven of this year's class graduated on Saturday: eight recipients of the Master of Arts in International Affairs (MAIA) and three with the Master of International Public Policy (MIPP).

The MAIA candidates were Daniela Beyer, Nilshan Fonseka, Bouchra Ibn Chakroune, Saša Kulenovic, Maëlle Lena, Maximilian Meduna, Arianna Ranuschio and Martin Vladimirov.

Receiving their MIPP degrees were Anthony Bonanno, Eilidh MacRae and Megan Rhodes.

The winners of the C. Grove Haines Awards for academic excellence were:

• Rebecca Freeman and Andreas Glossner in International Economics
• Harald Edinger in Global Themes
• Natalia Drozdiak in Regional Studies
• Martin Vladimirov for his MAIA thesis

Student Government President Matthew Conn addressed the packed auditorium before the guest speaker, Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, took the podium. He said Florence historically nurtured  innovators, artists and leaders because it understood the value of education and he urged SAIS students to embrace positive political change.

Renzi, who is considered a potential prime minister on Italy, was besieged by the press as he entered SAIS Bologna and as he departed, and was featured on regional and national television news bulletins that day.

Here is a video peak of the bittersweet event:

If you are reading this via email, you can see the video here.

Nelson Graves