The Graduation Ceremony of the Faculty of Dentistry of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (BEUN) for the 2024–2025 Academic Year was held with enthusiasm.
The ceremony held at the Sezai Karakoç Cultural Center of the Farabi Campus was attended by BEUN Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Bekir Hakan Bakkal and Prof. Dr. Servet Karasu, Secretary General Prof. Dr. Zehra Safi Öz, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry Prof. Dr. Baran Can Sağlam, Senate Members, academic and administrative staff, graduates and their families.
The ceremony began with a moment of silence in memory of the martyrs and the singing of the National Anthem, and continued with the screening of the short film "The Story of the Century", which tells the history of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (BEUN), the first university of the Republic.
Rector Özölçer: “Our students are the guarantee of our future, and always a source of pride for us!”
Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer, who came to the podium to make the opening speech of the ceremony, began his speech by remembering Uğur Ayaz, a 3rd year student in the Nursing Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences who passed away, with mercy and offering his condolences to his family, friends and the University community.
Rector Prof. Dr. stated that BEUN opened its doors to the world in 1924 under the name of Zonguldak Higher Mining Engineering School, contributed to the development of Turkey with engineering education and have brought more than 100 thousand qualified graduates to the future to date. In his continuing speech, Özölçer expressed the following words about the successes of the Faculty of Dentistry:
“It is a source of honor and pride for us that 662 dentists who have graduated from our Faculty of Dentistry to date have contributed to health services all around our country with the qualified education they have received and the ethical values they have gained. In addition, our Faculty ranked in the top ten among state and foundation universities in the Dentistry Specialization Education Entrance Exam. This degree is an important indicator of how strong our students are trained at an academic level. Indeed, we wholeheartedly believe that this line of success will continue in the upcoming DUS exams. In addition to all these, the projects of 7 students from our faculty were deemed worthy of support in 2025 within the scope of TÜBİTAK 2209 University Student Research Projects. This success shows how eager and competent our students are not only in the clinical field but also in the fields of scientific research and innovation. In addition, I would like to share some good news with you about our health investments here today:
Our students in better conditions In order to provide education and service to more patients, we are also carrying out our investment plans to increase our physical capacity by adding another floor to our current building and to increase the number of units, which is currently 126, by 20%. In this way, we will both increase our service quality and offer a more modern and equipped education environment to future dentists."
Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer thanked the families and academicians in his continuing speech and said to the graduates:
“May success and health be with you throughout your professional life. We love you very much and are always proud of you. I sincerely believe that you will always make us proud. May your path be clear and your fortune be bright!” and concluded his speech.
Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry Prof. Dr. Baran Can Sağlam, who came to the podium to deliver his speech, began his speech by greeting everyone who attended the ceremony. In his continuing speech, Prof. Dr. Sağlam emphasized that especially students and academicians have achieved significant successes with their work. At the end of her speech, she thanked everyone who attended the ceremony, especially BEUN Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer, who made great contributions to the development of the University and the Faculty, and congratulated all the graduates and concluded her speech.
Dentist Gökçen Bedir, who graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry with the highest ranking, spoke on behalf of all the graduates of the faculty. At the beginning of her speech, Bedir expressed the pride and happiness of graduating as a dentist from the first university of the Republic and the most established university in Turkey. She continued her speech by emphasizing that the scientific perspective she gained from her professors during her undergraduate education, the academic knowledge she acquired and the experiences she gained in the department were very valuable, and she thanked all the academic and administrative staff, especially BEUN Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer, who always supported her throughout her university life, her friends and family, and ended her speech.
BEUN 2024-2025 Academic Year Dentistry Faculty Graduation Ceremony continued with the opening speeches and the first student of the faculty, Gökçen Bedir, nailing the plaque with her name on the graduation log with her family.
The ceremony continued with BEUN Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer presenting certificates of achievement to the graduates who graduated from the faculty with honors.
