The Royal College Union Skills Centre Auditorium was the venue for the 15th Loyalty Pledge Scholarship Awards ceremony, on 30th June 2017, to award 200 scholarships.
Donors, who were past Royalists and non-Royalists as well, were pinned Purple Orchids on their shirt lapels. Parents who had travelled from afar sat in the hall anticipating the event, and the students and undergraduates, proud recipients of the awards, crowded the ceremony, symbolic of transformation, progress and a journey of incessant love.
The 15th Anniversary of the Loyalty Pledge Ceremony also epitomised the vision of its founders, to empower young Royalists to become high achievers at Royal College, with a plan to succeed in the future, in a chosen career.
The event was presided over by the patron of Royal College Union (RCU), the Principal of Royal College, Mr. B.A. Abeyrathne. The selected recipients received their accolades from the Principal of Royal College, Vice-Principals, Past Royalists and Committee Members of Loyalty Pledge, at the ceremony.
Donors who had generously given, took time off to attend the ceremony. Non-Royalist well-wishers sent messages while foreign donors expressed positive sentiments about the programme. ‘Re-paying the debt’ to one’s beloved alma mater had influenced others to give as well, permeating to the society at large.
This year, 185 school students and 12 undergraduates who were short-listed for the awards ceremony were privileged to be part of the ceremony. The Loyalty Pledge Committee had spent weeks on assessing the details of the students to ensure that the benchmarks of 60 marks and participation in a sport and society were met. The 12 undergraduates that were present were also selected on merit and economic need.
The recipients were exposed to the experience, insights and wisdom of their senior Royalists on this special day.