November, 2019
Volume IV, Issue II
Fall XlX
BracU lays foundation stone of permanent campus and figuratively pave the pathway towards the construction of the long-awaited new university campus. The architecture and design elements of the new campus have been developed with a focus on lowering carbon footprints by utilising renewable energy sources and open spaces. These elements aim to facilitate and inspire creativity, innovation, and inquisitiveness amongst all the students, as well as the involved personnel.
Marzuq Mohammad Alam Journalist On October 26th, the foundation stone of the new permanent campus of Brac University was laid at Merul Badda, Dhaka. This event saw the presence of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG, Founder and Chairperson emeritus of BRAC and Vice-Chancellor of BracU, Professor Vincent Chang. Tamara Hasan Abed, Chairperson of BracU’s Board of Trustees, was also present. The stone, sourced from Sylhet, the homedistrict of Sir Abed, portrays the journey of BracU from its creation to its current state, the vision and mission of BracU and its pathway into the future. The foundation stone serves as a timeless reminder of BracU’s continuous aim in developing minds and building leadership among students to make the world a better place.
Professor Vincent Chang speaking at the ceremony
The foundation stone is set to both literally
BracU donates 166 bags of blood to thalassemia patients
Read by Tamara Hasan Abed, Sir Abed’s speech at the event focused on the growing potential of innovation at BracU. Sir Abed also emphasised research, continual evolution, and teamwork as being the key elements in creating socially conscious, empathic, and capable leaders. After this speech, Professor Vincent Chang spoke of the importance of teamwork and his vision and mission of “Brac University 2.0”. The event was concluded with well-wishes from the present students, faculty members, BracU alumni, and officials of BRAC and BracU.
SCLS Law Olympiad 2019: School of Law scores a hat-trick
Blood being collected
Joutha Monisha Journalist Thalassemia is a blood disorder characterised by abnormal haemoglobin production. 7% of Bangladesh’s population have been found to be potential carriers of thalassemia and 7000 babies are born with it each year. Patients, depending on the severity of their condition, need blood transfusions in short intervals ranging from 2 weeks to 2 months. Since no permanent or stable cure has been found for thalassemia, every session is a matter of life and death. Bangladesh Thalassemia Samity Hospital, the only hospital run by thalassemia patients for thalassemia patients and their families, has 1200 patients coming in for transfusion-related services. The hospital needs almost 400 bags of blood every month. While some of their requirements are met through donations from the patients’ family members and blood banks, it is not always enough. They still depend on voluntary donations for 25% of their requirements. With hopes of making a significant dent in that number, BRAC University Community Service Club (BUCSC) hosted a blood donation camp on November 7th, “Save a drop.” The camp began at 10 am in the Building 2 Indoor Auditorium where there were 6 collection beds, 4 qualified blood collectors, and 2 doctors. The donation was open for everyone and ran until 5 pm. A grand total of 166 bags of blood were donated by students, teachers and the staff of Brac University, an astounding one-third of their needs for November. When asked for comments, one of the organisers said, “Brac University responded really well. We had to turn away so many people due to strict guidelines for donors. Yet, we had surpassed our goal by mid-afternoon.” One of the representative of Bangladesh Thalassemia Samity Hospital also said, “We did not expect so many donations.” He also expressed his gratitude towards all the donors of BracU for their enthusiastic philanthropy and BUCSC for organising the event.
Participating teams of SCLS Law Olympiad 2019
Rifa Tamanna Journalist On October 19th, the third season of “Law Olympiad” was organised by the Society for Critical and Legal Studies (SCLS) in Chittagong. Out of the 32 participating teams from all over the country, 3 teams were from the School of Law, BracU, and were mentored by Professor Saira Rahman Khan. Team Blitzkrieg was comprised of Ayan Rahman Khan and Humaira Anjum Oishe, who emerged as the champions of the Olympiad on human rights. The other two teams, Team Defenders and Team Atova made it to the top 10. The Olympiad consisted of 4 rounds that tested each team’s reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills. Throughout the day, each team presented their posters on policy making, defended their research papers, and provided legal solutions on given social problems. Ayan and Oishe became the winners in the action aid finale round, where they had to draft a policy to make the Mental Health Act 2018 more effective. Upon asking about their experience, Oishe and Ayan stated that the entire experience had been absolutely incredible and that the champion’s title for the third time in a row was a cherry on top. They had tried to utilise this once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from educators, judges, and magistrates. Team Atova placed 6th and consisted of sophomores Mussabeir Hussain and Rakibul Islam. They were also the winners of the “Case Presentation” segment in BUP National Law Fest 2019. Rakibul was awarded the best case presenter in the festival. While Team Defenders with Sadia Islam and Tashfia Ali secured 8th place.