Corvinus freshmen have taken their oath

The Corvinus University of Budapest held its opening ceremony of the academic year on Monday. Lajos Szabó, Acting Rector, first welcomed the students and lecturers,  emphasising that students are at the centre of the university’s strategy. Addressing the freshmen, he metaphorically concluded a contract with them, offering collaboration in the areas of excellence, challenge, community and career. He said the contract is about the students bringing their talent, their will, their motivation, and about the university providing the professional knowledge, experience, mindset, as well as digital, interpersonal, leadership, teamwork and skills development. He recalled that Corvinus has 9 of the 10 highest scoring bachelor study programmes in the country, and that the university has also obtained international AACSB and AMBA accreditation.

Addressing his colleagues, the Acting Rector stressed that together they have achieved a lot of success in the transformed university. In addition to the new study programmes, new ones have also been created, such as the bachelor study programmes of  Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Data Science in Business that are unique in Hungary and the master study programmes of  Political Economy and Economic Behaviour Analysis, and – also for the first time in Hungary – one-year English-language master study programmes. Among the tasks for the coming period, he highlighted the rethinking of the social sciences portfolio, the development of a new concept for the master programmes, the renewal of the academic career model, and the task of bringing life to the new Ménesi Campus, which will be ready next spring.

The guest of honour of the event, József Váradi, member of the Board of Trustees of the Maecenas Universitatis Corvini Foundation, co-founder and CEO of Wizz Air Holdings, asked the students to be proud to be Corvinus students, because studying here is a privilege and the best investment. At Corvinus, what matters is not where you come from, but where you go, and how much use you make of the opportunities offered here, he added. Referring to his own example, he said that Corvinus not only provides a perspective and enables graduates to get into the most prestigious companies, but also gives its students the human connections, which makes him remember his university years as the best time of his life.  He called students the leaders of the future, who have a responsibility to shape society, and who must learn to appraise the world around them, must be engaged, resilient. In his closing remarks, he urged freshmen to live their careers and lives with passion and enjoyment, as this will serve as an inspiration and source of energy for others.

Kristóf Kovács, President of the Corvinus Student Union, said that the opening of the academic year is the most important for the new students, the Corvinus freshmen, and encouraged them to make new contacts, join a student association, a college for advanced studies, and take advantage of the many opportunities offered by Corvinus.

After the welcome speeches, the first-year students took their oath both in Hungarian and in English. The ceremony was enriched by a performance by the clarinet duo of the Snétberger disciples, a short concert by the Quack orchestra and a performance by the Herself orchestra.