Principal's Medal 2018: Rufaida Al Hashmi
Thursday 28 June 2018
I should now like to introduce the Principal's Medal. This award was inaugurated nine years ago with a gift from three anonymous donors and is now supported by Ede and Ravenscroft, believed to be the oldest firm of tailors and robe-makers in the world.
The award of the Principal’s Medal recognises students who display exceptional endeavour and achievement during their time at St Andrews. The awards are open to final-year undergraduates, and to postgraduates in any discipline. The achievements celebrated are academic as well as sporting, musical, or other attainments.
For the academic year 2017-2018, the Principal’s Medal is being presented to three extraordinary students. This afternoon we recognise Rufaida Al Hashmi, who has just received her Master of Arts in Philosophy and Economics.
Rufaida’s nomination describes her as ‘an excellent and deeply serious scholar… with a deep passion for philosophy’. Her work is ‘unfailingly cogent, and … critically engaged’ and it’s noted that in class Rufaida responds to the comments of her peers with care, contributing to a ‘courteous and attentive atmosphere’. In each year of her studies, she has appeared on the Dean’s List for academic achievement and I am delighted to note she has been awarded a first; moreover she was awarded a University Scholarship in Research and Leadership in recognition of the extremely high quality of her Laidlaw research project. In 2017 Rufaida was joint President of the St Andrews Society for Women and Minorities in Philosophy, which advocates for a more inclusive and diverse philosophy discipline and community.
Alongside her academic achievements, Rufaida has worked selflessly for Jusoor, a leading NGO that aims to support people displaced from Syria through education. She raised funds for a school for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. She also served as the coordinator for Jusoor's 100 Syrian Women Programme which has enabled women of high potential affected by the conflict to study at universities abroad.
Rufaida, in recognition of all that you have achieved both academically and personally during your time as an undergraduate, and as you prepare to start a Master’s degree in political theory at the University of Oxford, where you have been awarded the Jusoor Scholarship at St Antony’s College, it gives me great pleasure to invite you to join me on stage now to receive your medal.
– Principal Sally Mapstone