“Find your mountain, that one thing that lights your soul on fire. Climb it. And then hold the door for others.”

That was the message H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani — the first Qatari to reach the highest peak on all seven continents and ski to the South Pole — brought to Georgetown University in Qatar’s Class of 2026 during commencement on Thursday, May 7.

For a group of graduates whose experiences over the past four years shaped them in profound ways, the presence of the Qatari adventurer and businessman carried particular weight. His Excellency — also Chairman of Musafir.com and High Camp Holding Company — urged graduates to pursue their dreams but don’t forget to live a meaningful life.

“You are never at the top for more than a moment at a time. Power, fame, and money are the tools, not the destination. Chase them if they serve your purpose, but they are not the mountain,” he said. “The mountain is that at the end of your life, someone’s life is better because you are in it.”

For many graduates, his message matched the reality of their time at Georgetown Qatar. Parents, siblings, peers, faculty, and staff filled the room to celebrate the accomplishments of the 121 Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service graduates and 27 Executive Master’s alumni, many of whom faced difficult and deeply personal challenges throughout their years at the university.

The undergraduate Class of 2026 started college when masks and COVID-19 restrictions still shaped daily life. Over the next four years, they watched wars unfold in Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen, Gaza, and Lebanon, while political changes across the region affected many of their lives personally. For some students, those conflicts were not distant headlines, but realities impacting their families, communities, and classmates.

In their final semester, the war with Iran and Iran’s targeting of the GCC fractured the campus itself, separating students from one another at the moment they should have been celebrating together. The geopolitical map they studied in classrooms shifted beneath their feet in real time. No cohort could have been better placed to understand what was happening — or better prepared to respond.

At the Tropaia Awards ceremony earlier in the week, student speaker Remas Alhawari, a Palestinian-Jordanian International Politics major, stood before her peers and named what they had all endured. Yet, she told them, none of it diminished what Georgetown had given them.

“The privilege that came with this place will follow you,” she said. “It will sit quietly in the background until you deliver.”

Against everything, the Class of 2026 leaves behind a record that holds under pressure and excels.

Twenty-two students earned honors in the major. Nine were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Two won Schwarzman Scholarships. Graduates will continue their studies at institutions including the University of Cambridge, Sciences Po, Johns Hopkins University, Tsinghua University, and through the Erasmus Mundus Program — destinations that reflect both their high ambitions and  broad preparation.

Dean Safwan Masri, who joined GU-Q the same year this class arrived as freshmen and who concludes his own tenure this year, sent graduates off with a charge that wove together the institution’s Jesuit and Islamic traditions.

“The Jesuit ideal of being people for others calls us beyond the narrow borders of the self,” he said. “The Islamic ideals of justice, mercy, duty, and the dignity of knowledge deepen that call. Your education, in this sense, is generational. It prepares you to build futures commensurate with the needs of our time.”

As Dean Masri and the Class of 2026 embark on the next stage of their journeys, they leave behind a legacy that has helped establish Georgetown Qatar as a regional hub of excellence. The university admitted just 9% of applicants into its incoming class this year and saw applications surge 92%, the highest level of interest in GU-Q’s history. And with the offering of a new major in Science, Technology and International Affairs, one of the few programs of its kind in the region, Georgetown Qatar continues to position itself as a proving ground for the next generation of global leaders.

About Georgetown University in Qatar:

Established in 2005, Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is the leading global campus for the university, offering a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) with majors in International Politics, International Economics, Culture and Politics, and International History. GU-Q also provides an Executive Master’s program in Diplomacy and International Affairs, and a number of customized professional development programs for public and private sector entities. 

For more information contact: Rajaa Elidrissi (re348@georgetown.edu), Nahla El Sherif (ne89@georgetown.edu)