The Academic Year 2018 fall Commencement Ceremony for the colleges and graduate schools of Ritsumeikan University took place this week: March 20 - Kinugasa Campus, March 21 - Suzaku Campus and Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC), and March 22 – Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC).

A grand total of 7659 students graduated this year of whom 6,751 were undergraduates and 908 post-graduates.

Yoshio Nakatani, president of Ritsumeikan University delivered a commencement address at each ceremony in which he spoke of the need for graduates to think for themselves about the problems faced by society and to be aware of asking the right questions in seeking solutions.

He went on to stress the importance of recognition and respect for unfamiliar people and environments in developing the ability to solve problems creatively, before expressing, in conclusion, his hopes and wishes for this fall's graduates:

I hope you will have the courage to take on challenges, without fearing failure. I hope you will continue to take on challenges. I firmly believe that it is precisely by freely taking on challenges that a path to a bright future for your life will open up to you.

Having studied at Ritsumeikan, which prides itself upon its core educational philosophy of peace and democracy and founding ideals of freedom and innovation, we look forward in anticipation to hearing of the future achievements of all this year’s graduates in their chosen fields of study!