Seniors Recognized for Outstanding Achievements at Georgetown’s 2013 Tropaia Awards Ceremony

In ancient Greece, the singular form of Tropaia referred to a monument celebrating a military or athletic victory. As time passed, the term evolved to mean trophy.

For today’s Georgetown students Tropaia is a ceremony that honors the outstanding achievements of its seniors, faculty and staff, and often includes the bequeathing of a coveted trophy or other symbol signifying exceptional accomplishment.

For members of the Class of 2013 who recently received special prizes, this contemporary version of Tropaia was indeed an evening of victory.

On May 9, in Doha, the family and friends of Georgetown seniors gathered in the University’s auditorium as awards for academic honors and outstanding achievements were conferred on the soon-to-be graduates. 

Danah Dehdary (SFS-Q’13) opened the fifth annual Tropaia exercises with an official welcome to the celebratory evening. This opening was followed with an invocation by senior Eman Jawad Al Asfoor.

The evening proceeded with recognition of the outstanding achievements of members of the Class of 2013. On hand to distribute the honors were deans and faculty, including Gerd Nonneman, dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (GU-Q), who presented the academic honors.

The academic honor of magna cum laude was conferred on Noora Essa A.E. Al-Mannai, AlJawhara Hassan Al-Thani, Eilin Liz Francis, Malik Abdulateef Habayeb, Marlene Kham Nang and Emilio Ocampo Eibenschutz. Eight students received cum laude honors.

The Dean’s Medal, awarded to the graduating senior who earned the highest scholastic average during undergraduate study at Georgetown University in Qatar, went to AlJawhara Hassan Al-Thani.

Senior AlJawhara Hassan Al-Thani won the Culture and Politics Outstanding Student Award and the Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali Faculty Award. Malik Abdulateef Habayeb received the Lena Landegger Service Award and the International Politics Outstanding Student Award. The International Economics Outstanding Student Award was presented to Eilin Liz Francis. The Franco-Qatari Friendship Eugene Fromentin Award went to Aisha Jassim Al Sultan. The Certificate in Arab and Regional Studies Award was bestowed on Ghada Khalifa Al-Subaey.Students were also inducted into five national honor societies: Omicron Delta Epsilon, the National Economics Honor Society; Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society; Alpha Sigma Nu, the National Jesuit Honor Society; Pi Delta Phi, the National French Honor Society; and Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society. 

Special recognition for successful completion of the Certificate in American Studies and the Certificate in Arab and Regional Studies was announced, as well.

Students who received honors in their major not only maintained a high GPA but also completed a senior thesis of honors quality. This year, honors in Culture and Politics went to Emilio Ocampo Eibenschutz. Honors in International Economics was given to Eilin Liz Francis, and honors in the International Politics major were received by Lubna Sharab and Aminah Kandar.

Chosen by her peers to be Senior Class Speaker, Aminah Kandar gave an inspirational speech about privilege, humility and responsibility. “I’ve learned that humility is not only a service to others, but also a service to ourselves,” she said, explaining that humility is a tool that will shield one from the harshness of life and its misfortunes.

Declaring responsibility as the most important duty of her classmates, Kandar said that Georgetown helped the Class of 2013 learn and apply the importance of giving back. “We must never let this spirit die.”

Every year the seniors vote for members of the faculty and staff who will receive honors. For 2012-13, the seniors voted Student Development Officer Alex Silberman as SFS-Q Staff Member of the Year. The title of SFS-Q Dean of the Year was bestowed on Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Daniel C. Stoll, Ph.D. And the seniors elected Assistant Professor of Economics M. Daniel Westbrook, Ph.D., as SFS-Q Faculty Member of the Year.

The evening’s closing remarks were given by senior Malik Abdulateef Habayeb who, on behalf of the Class of 2013, thanked the professors for constantly challenging students’ assumptions, for compelling them to rethink their perspectives, and for introducing students to a world of intellectual engagement.

Haybayeb also gave a special thanks to the seniors’ parents for providing “the support and encouragement we needed to make it this far.”

Congratulations to all the recipients who were recognized for their hard work and contributions to the Georgetown community in Qatar.

Hoya Saxa!