Happiness was in the air on Friday, September 15, 2017 when the Islamabad and KPK Alumni Chapter held their annual reunion at the Monal Marquee in Islamabad.
As thrilled as the alumni were to meet up with their class fellows and batch mates, they were even more excited to meet several esteemed LUMS faculty members present at the event. LUMS Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, Dean of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), Dr. Shahid Masud, Dean of the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law (SAHSOL), Dr. Martin Lau, and Professor at the Suleman Dawood School Business (SDSB), Dr. Zahoor Hassan, were all in attendance to welcome the alumni, and catch up with their thriving professional lives.
The evening kicked off as the alumni engaged in warm greetings over a round of welcome drinks, after which the ceremony officially began with a recitation of the Holy Quran and a showing of the National Anthem.
The President of the Islamabad Alumni Chapter, Taimur Saeed, MSc 2013, and Vice President of the Chapter, Khadija Bakhtiar, BSc 2007, then took to the stage as the official Masters of Ceremonies for the evening, entertaining the audience throughout with their humour and charm.
As the evening proceeded, the gathering got the chance to hear quite a few special alumni; first alumni Abdul Haseeb, BSc 2015, and Arsham Iqbal, BSc 2014, spoke about how influential the National Outreach Programme (NOP) at LUMS was in changing their lives for the better, and then Dr. Naqvi presented the latest developments taking place at LUMS. He gave the alumni an in-depth overview of the ways in which LUMS is enhancing and expanding and urged them to give back to their alma mater.
As an alumnus who has already paid heed to Dr. Naqvi’s words, Ammar Qureshi, MBA 1996, was then awarded with a token of recognition for being the highest alumni donor from Islamabad. In his thank you speech, Qureshi too emphasized the need for alumni to contribute to LUMS, and cultivate a spirit of continuous support.
Reunions like this are also a great opportunity to appreciate the efforts of engaged and supportive alumni, and in this spirit, the office-bearers of the Islamabad Alumni Chapter were awarded with certificates of appreciation for their contribution to the Chapter.
The festivities of the night included a delicious dinner of a variety of cuisines, an awesome Game of Thrones photo booth that attracted many a fan, a live screening of the final World Xl vs. Pakistan cricket match, and an entertaining musical performance by a talented member of the Alumni Relations team, Khizar Tahseen.
The alumni had an entertaining night reliving the LUMS experience, from taking photos together at the photo booth and mingling with their favourite LUMS professors, to interacting with alumni from batches other than their own, and catching up with old friends. The Islamabad and KPK alumni had a wonderful time at the annual reunion and are looking forward to a future with more such engagements.
