Qatar University organizes a myriad of lively events in celebration of National Day

Led by the Students Activities Department, Qatar University (QU) celebrated Qatar National Day with an array of festivities that reflected the country’s heritage, culture, and traditions. The organization’s celebrations on December 11-13 included two consecutive events on the male and female campuses. They featured five booths highlighting Qatari traditions, a traditional tent and Qatari food.

On the male campus, the celebrations featured the screening of two videos, national songs and poetry recitations, as well as traditional sword dances (ardah). A live performance themed “Love of the Nation”, a session on the “Gaze of a Homeland”, and a live operetta titled “The Story of the Nation” were also part of the celebratory program. The event on the female campus was organized by the Female Students Committee for National Day, in collaboration with QU Housing and Inclusion and Special Needs Support Center. It featured a live performance themed “Love of the Nation” presented by high school female students, poetry recitations, various competitions, and a live operetta themed “We Are All Qatar”. It also included five booths that showcased Qatar’s achievements, Qatari traditional food, photography and a traditional wedding show.

On the sidelines of these celebratory events, QU presented a booth at Darb Al Saai. The booth included educational activities on Arabic calligraphy, engineering, journalism, medicine, pharmacy, and traditions for visitors presented by students from various colleges -- “The Little  Journalist” (College of Arts and Sciences); “QU History” (College of Sharia and Islamic Studies); “The Little Pharmacist” (College of Pharmacy); “I Am a Doctor” (College of Medicine); “Engineering Academy”, “Architecture Studio”, “CNC Machine” and “Chemical Engineering Lab” (College of Engineering).

Other activities included sessions on recycling by the Students Activities Department and educational workshops for high school students by Al Bairaq Program. As part of the celebrations at Darb Al Saai, the Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences (DCES) at QU College of Arts and Sciences presented two booths. The first booth featuring plants was a collaboration with Murooj Qatar. Visitors were briefed on ways to grow plants from seed indoors and outdoors. Students were on hand at the second booth to provide experiments on how to remove heavy metals from eggshell and how to reveal fingerprints.

Commenting on the celebrations, QU President Dr Hassan Al Derham said: “The National Day is one of the most cherished events in Qatar. We celebrate our glory and shared identity and the history which shaped it. As the country’s first national university, QU organized a myriad of events to celebrate the National Day and to promote national identity among youth.” Director of Student Services and Activities Mr Abdulla Al-Yafei said: “The National Day celebrations showcase the role of QU Students Activities Department to shape students to become competent and effective leaders in the society and to contribute to the fulfillment of the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the human and social development national strategies.”