Under the patronage of Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, Dar Al-Hekma College held its annual graduation ceremony at its campus auditorium here on Sunday. On behalf of the Crown Prince, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, and Prince Misha'l Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, honored the 217 female graduates. Dar Al-Hekma President Suhair Hassan Al-Quraishi welcomed the guests and thanked Prince Khaled for honoring the nation's daughters on the occasion. “With our mission and vision and with our core values that guide us, we have strengthened and expanded our academic program and our range of activities,” she said. The college was founded when there was a need for sophisticated higher education for young Saudi women. The Texas International Education Consortium was appointed to work with local and international experts to plan the college and design its curricula. “Our mission is to provide selected degree programs to academically qualified women, with an emphasis on fostering creativity and women's role in society,” Al-Quraishi said. “Dar Al-Hekma was founded in 1999 and is working in cooperation with four international universities. Our first graduation ceremony was held in 2003 and since then we have proudly produced 779 graduates who are successfully employed today in reputable organizations, are pursuing further education in renowned universities around the world, or have established successful business in the Kingdom,” Al-Quraishi added. Emphasizing the success that the college's graduates have had in finding suitable posts in the job market, Dr. Lamya Gazzaz, Vice Dean of student affairs, said: “We are delighted with the growing success of our graduates to-date.The academic programs that we offer now and plan for the future reflect the need for certain jobs in the market, and we aspire to continue to provide for such needs.” Parents of the graduating students were full of praise for the college. Eng. Abdullah Bughshan, father of Dar Al-Hekma graduate Shaimaa Bughshan, expressed his thanks to Prince Khaled and the college president, saying that Dar Al-Hekma is “a beacon where we are all proudly and happily celebrating today the graduation of our precious and beloved daughters”. Reflecting on her life after graduation, his daughter said: “Dar Al-Hekma has given us an international perspective. As for where we shall go and what we shall do, well, this is what Dar Al-Hekma has planned and worked hard to achieve, to have a positive impact on the local and international community by producing effective leaders, who build and foster bridges of understanding and dialogue with the world in a language of mutual respect.”
