Five days after successfully conducting its first convocation, the Habib University staff gathered for a town hall meeting on May 10, 2018. Held in the auditorium, the meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the convocation as well as celebrate the efforts of the staff not only in organizing the convocation but over the last four years.
President Wasif Rizvi began by thanking and congratulating the staff on the success of five nights ago, when the entire Habib family came together to make the first ever convocation a tremendous success. He recalled that over a period of time, he has had the opportunity to meet with many staff members at the time of induction, and that a couple of questions he usually asks is about how many have worked at a University, and how many have organized a convocation.
The response, he said, was around six percent for the first question and zero for the second, which he said was not surprising considering working in a University has traditionally not been a preferred career choice. He said that keeping this in mind, the staff deserved every bit of praise they could be given for doing such a wonderful job in their first attempt. Yet, he pointed out that there was no room for complacency, “… you have made your job more difficult by setting the bar so high,” he said, speaking in Urdu as he did for most of the town hall, and that there was always room for improvement.
Then it was time to honor the staff, and Shahnoor Sultan, Chief Operating Officer began by asking the staff to accord President Rizvi who is also the founding president of the University a standing ovation. Recognition of 35 staff members who have been with the University since the beginning followed; they were presented a shield by President Rizvi in appreciation of their hard work and commitment over the years.
Mr. Sultan, also one of the founding staff members, was also acknowledged by President Rizvi for having worked with no less commitment to bringing the University to where it stood today.
Mr. Sultan recalled one of his earliest conversations with the President, where Mr. Rizvi had told him that he wanted to make Habib University a premier institution from the very beginning. That vision had been realized, said Mr. Sultan, alluding to the remarks made by the Honorable Governor Sindh, Mr Muhammad Zubair, during his convocation address that Habib University “… was almost the best university in Pakistan.” He went on to say that this was not the only instance when the University had been praised, recalling a chance conversation with Dr. Ishrat Husain, ex-Director Institute of Business Administration, who had been extremely impressed with the University.
The event concluded with two memorable photographs being taken; one the President with the founding staff members, and the other with the entire staff. Lunch was held in the Tapal cafeteria and provided an excellent time for all staff members to share in the positivity of the moment while enjoying food.
