The page was turned over into a fresh page with the tip of the pen filled with the ink of potential leaders to start scribing another tremendous chapter with the heading 7th Installation Ceremony in the Book of Gavel Club of University of Colombo on the 22nd of April 2022. With the beams of light from the traditional oil lamp lit by The chief guest – Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Senior Prof. H. D. Karunaratne, Guest of Honour – Distinguished Toastmaster Srianthie Salgado, Senior Treasurer – Dr. Irojaa Caldera, Former Senior Treasurer – Dr. Dilhari Artigala, Installing Officer- Distinguished Toastmaster Dr. Prabath Karunarathna, Inducting Officer – Toastmaster Ramalka Kasige, Incoming president of the Gavel Club of the University of Colombo – GV Susara Ouchithya, Outgoing president of the Gavel Club of the University of Colombo – GV Dasitha de Costa, and Project Co-chair of the organizing committee – GV Zahra Zuhri who graced the event with their participation, lighting up the New Arts Theatre of the University of Colombo this glorious event commenced followed by the National Anthem.
The captains of this ship for each term never failed to leave their mark of excellent leadership and so did the outgoing President GV Dasitha De Costa who spoke a few words of his term’s chapter and the remarkable place Gavel held in his heart. This Installation Ceremony was not a mere installation ceremony but also an award ceremony whereas prizes of Oration 2020, Enliven 2021, Templanza 2021, and Penned 2022 were too awarded to the winners by the Presidents of each respective year, and special guests which indeed made the evening even more special to an extended audience. Unlike other events, the organizers of these competitions were true challenge takers and overcomers of barriers who successfully held the events via the online platform amidst the pandemic and lockdowns. Cheers to all those change-makers and hats off to your hard work!
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Senior Professor H. D. Karunaratne who graced the ceremony as the Chief Guest addressed the gathering with his inspiring words that came out of knowledge and experience. In addition to that, the words of another dedicated professional were heard out in the evening. It was the insightful speech given by the Guest of Honor of the evening Distinguished Toastmaster Sriyanthie Salgado. The Senior Treasurer Dr. Nadeeka Basnayake who was not able to take part in the ceremony did not miss to mark her presence with a thoughtful message that was delivered to the audience of the evening.
After all the speeches and award-giving, the stage was given out for some music which chased away the sameness of the event and hyped up the audience with smiles, claps, and clicks. The mesmerizing vocals of Ashen and Sadushi lit up the auditorium by heart though the lights were dimmed off.
Then arrived one of the most awaited moments of the day, the official Induction of the new members to the Gavel Club of UOC where 31 enthusiastic members were inducted by an outstanding and looked-up role model TM. Ramalka Kasige. The introduction lines of each member for sure depicted the uniqueness of each person while some did not miss to draw a smile on the faces of the audience. Then the proceeding of induction took place accordingly where the inductees gave and were given the oath of being inducted followed by being awarded the certificate of induction.
Finally, the spotlight of the event was turned on for the most awaited moment of the evening, the Installation of the Executive Committee of the University of Colombo, for the term 2021/22. Distinguished Toastmaster, Dr. Prabath Karunanayake joined the event as the installing officer and carried out the proceedings accordingly. Congratulations to the EXCO of Gavel UOC for the term 2021/22 and cheers to an amazing year ahead full of moments to cherish and lessons to learn with you at the wheel of the ship! A 樂威壯 fun-filled video that depicted the personalities of the EXCO played at the back drawing the attention of everyone towards the screen with a smile on their lips and excitement in their eyes. Following this, the captain of this crew for the term 2021/22, the newly appointed president of Gavel UOC, GV Susara Ouchithya awoke his voice for the acceptance speech as the incoming President.
Arriving at the last few moments of the event, the newly appointed Vice President-Education of Gavel UOC, GV Dasitha Wanduragala delivered the vote of thanks appreciating the efforts taken by each and every individual in making this event a memorable one and conveying his heartfelt gratitude towards them.
With the lines of Brian Herbert that said, ‘The capacity to learn is a gift, the ability to learn is a skill, the willingness to learn is a choice’ this glorious event marked its end and it surely was a colorful screen with tremendous hard workings, efforts, the dedication of many outstanding individuals that paid off in such way. The sponsors who came forward in such a time of a rollercoaster cannot be forgotten for their contribution played a major role in the event being what it was. Kudos to all of them who did contribute by action, word, and even by thought. Overall it was a great job done!
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