The Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar held its annual Diplomatic Ball on Thursday. The event saw the Qatar Red Crescent Society collecting donations to support disaster relief efforts to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Kenjiro Monji, the Japanese ambassador to Qatar, and 300 members of the diplomatic community and Georgetown students, faculty and alumni attended the event held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha. Mehran Kamrava, Interim Dean of SFS-Qatar, said: “We are here to celebrate the end of the academic year and your accomplishments, but we’re also here tonight to remember our friends in need. Tonight’s event is dedicated to the disaster in Japan and to helping them recover from the earthquake and tsunami.” He added: “We are grateful to the Qatar Red Crescent for its partnership with Georgetown University and also to our students for their spirit of camaraderie and assistance, and their remembrance of those who are not as fortunate tonight as we are.” Dignitaries from 28 countries joined the Georgetown community in Qatar for a black tie evening of dinner and conversation. Vice president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (Asia), Mohamed al-Maadheed said: “It’s an honour to have been invited to an initiative by the students, and supported by the faculty, that gives all of us the opportunity to exercise our humanity. We give our condolences to the people of Japan. We can see the support tonight in this hall, but the support is beyond this. It’s in Qatar, and it’s global.” The annual Diplomatic Ball, sponsored by Georgetown’s Office of Student Affairs for the third year in a row, takes its inspiration from the gala hosted by the School of Foreign Service each year in Washington, DC, which aims to “bring together the diplomats of today and tomorrow.” Elisabeth Kent, a senior at Georgetown’s Qatar campus, said: “One of the central values of the Georgetown community is to live as men and women for others. In keeping with this idea, the student body decided to dedicate this evening to the victims of the recent natural disasters in Japan.” The Japanese ambassador thanked Georgetown University and its students for their support and highlighted the resilience of the Japanese people and their will and determination to overcome tragedy.

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