311 Bachelor’s degrees awarded

17 March 2018. At the Bachelors' Graduation Day, a total of 311 graduates were handed their degree certificates in the following majors:

• 218 in Business Administration,
• 30 in International Affairs,
• 26 in Economics,
• 23 in Law and Economics,
• 14 in Law.

Freedom – but what kind?
President Thomas Bieger reminded the graduates that many options were open to them after graduation. They would now have the freedom to do what they wanted. In the age of multioptionality and excess, freedom appeared to be paradise. "But we all know that paradise is often a fiction." To illustrate this, Bieger quoted Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "The freedom of Mankind does not lie in the fact that we can do what we want, but that we do not have to do that which we do not want." For this reason, Thomas Beiger advised the graduates to ask themselves with regard to all their decisions whether they were really bound in any way or indeed free – for instance with regard to visiting a networking event: should they attend out of social pressure or would it be necessary in order to obtain specific information. "This question will also provide you with more freedom of a kind that I personally consider to be more desirable," said Bieger, "namely the freedom not to have to do things that we don’t want to do."

Attractive social programme
The musical background to the ceremony was provided by the HSG Big Band. HSG Alumni President Urs Landolf congratulated the graduates on their first academic degree. He outlined the great advantages of the large HSG Alumni network for new graduates, in particular, and encouraged them to become actively involved in it. During the Bachelors' Graduation Day, graduates, their relatives and guests were able to enjoy a varied social programme ranging from themed guided tours in the city and guided tours of artworks at the University to Prof. Dr. Tina Freyburg's taster lecture on "Love at first sight? Populism and Direct Democracy". In the evening, HSG Alumni held the traditional Graduation Party in St.Gallen.