The ceremony of conferring the first Master of Arts degrees of the Faculty of Humanities at the Hebrew University took place at the University to-day. The degree was conferred on thirteen graduates, two of them women.
The ceremony was attended by the High Commissioner for Palestine, General Sir Arthur Wauchope, the Chief Justice, Sir Michael MacDonnell, and the entire Faculty of the University, the members of the Consular Corps in Palestine, and representatives of the various academic bodies, learned societies, and the churches.
Mr. Ragheb Bey Nashashibi, the Mayor of Jerusalem, did not come to the function, so the threatened demonstration against him did not take place.
Professor Klein, the head of the Faculty of Humanities, introduced the graduates, and Dr. J. L. Magnes, the Chancellor of the University, conferred the degrees.
We send you from this humble yet glorious temple of learning, Dr. Magnes concluded his address to the graduates. May your lips be touched by the burning coal off this earthen altar.
Dr. Magnes referred in the course of his speech to the plight of the Jewish students who are suffering indignities and persecution in the Universities of many lands, reminding us again, he said, how man can torture man.
The High Commissioner, Sir Arthur Wauchope, in addressing the gathering, said that the students should be proud that they were the first to be honoured by one of the youngest universities in the world, established by a people whose culture goes back to the remotest times.
Recalling the tree-planting in which he had taken part this week on the occasion of the Jewish New Year of the Trees, he likened the graduation ceremony to it, saying that the graduates, too, are the saplings planted by the University which grow into great trees.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
