MICA, Ahmedabad, India’s premier institute for Strategic Marketing and Communication celebrated the Annual Convocation Ceremony with great pomp and splendor on its main campus lawn on 31st March 2019. They hosted the event for the 24th batch of its flagship PGDM-Communications Program and the 28th Batch of Crafting Creative Communication (CCC) Course. 4 Scholars of MICA’s Fellowship Program in Management-Communication (FPM-C) Batch of 2014-17, and 2 scholars of the Batch of 2015-18 were also awarded their Fellowship at the Ceremony.
The students, proud parents, relatives, faculty & staff watched the events unfold, from the sea of audience, along with the MICA President & Director, Dr Shailendra Raj Mehta, Dean Dr Preeti Shroff, Governing Council Chairperson, Dr Tridip Suhrud, Governing Council Members Dr Anantha Babbili and Dr Bhaskar Das, besides invited guests.
It was an exhilarating affair of graduation of yet another dynamic and vibrant batch of MICAns, who would be taking a new step towards becoming industry leaders, global professionals and game changers for societal and transformation, besides the FPM Scholars pursuing academic careers. The distinguished industry leader Mr. Amit Jain, Managing Director for L’Oréal India, was the chief guest for this occasion.
The event commenced with the Invocation ceremony, and was declared open by Dr Tridip Surhrud, the Governing Council Chairperson, after the lighting of the ceremonial lamp.
MICA Dean Dr Preeti Shroff, extended her warm welcome to those present and instilled the importance of the timeless adage that, “Never underestimate what a small determined group of people can do.”, setting pace for the vibrant ceremony. She welcomed the Chief Guest, The General Council and all invited guests.
Post the conferring of Diplomas & Fellowships, the academic awards for the flagship PGDM-C Program were conferred. The Gold Medal was awarded to Ms. Sanya Sitlani, the Silver to Ms. Arpita Choudhury and the Bronze to Ms. Malvika Adukia from the PGDM-C course, and The CCC counterparts for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were Mr. Rishav Chatterjee, Ms. Suzanna Mathew and Ms. Vaishali Shukla respectively.
The MICA Year Book, which captured the essence of nostalgia and fond memories for the outgoing batch of students, was also released by Mr. Amit Jain.
This was followed by a convocation address by Mr. Amit Jain, the Chief Guest.
He began by acknowledging the 15-year-old relationship between MICA and L’Oréal; some of their brightest talent, Pankaj Sharma who is from the 2003 batch and heads the brands - Garnier & Maybelline, and more than 20 alumni of MICA have joined us over the years.” He had 3 lessons to impart – “Have a sense of purpose in what you do. In whatever you are going to do; be it working in a media company, an advertising agency or even L’Oréal, it is not just about creating and selling but finding a deeper meaning in what we do. Make a difference and have the courage of conviction. Have a passion for learning, and build a strong foundation. Balance your ambition with the desire to grow.” Finding the occasion to also be a good time to reflect, he said, “I would like you to reflect upon whom you wish to thank. Find a mentor or somebody you look up to. The trick is to identify the right mentor and getting them adequately engaged and motivated to giving time. In L’Oréal, we actively practise Reverse Mentoring”. He concluded with a quote by Victor Hugo saying, “Nothing succeeds like an idea whose time has come.”, wishing the bright curious students the best of luck for their future endeavours.
Mr. Jain’s speech was followed by a note of appreciation by Mr. Shailendra Raj Mehta, President, MICA. He spoke of the various achievements of MICA in the last academic year and complimented the various committees for their outstanding work. He said, “There are globally over two thousand MICA alumni and their contribution is immense in making MICA what it is. He concluded with couplets in English, Hindi and Urdu, including George Bernard Shaw, where he asks the question,” Why not?” The MICA council for Students Affairs gave a poignant trip down memory lane and the highlights of their batch through these two years, using pop-culture references and contextual humour. They expressed gratitude to the Dean, President, Registrar and all staff members of MICA for their enduring support.
The PAT memorial Outstanding award, conferred annually to illustrious alumni of the Institute was awarded this year to Mr. Basant Rathore, Senior VP Strategy, Business Development and Brand at Jagran Prakashan Ltd.
Mr. Rathore is an alumnus of the MICA Batch of 1996.
MICA had webcasted the ceremony live, on its website and Facebook account and was viewed by people across the globe.
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