Üsküdar University the 8th High Human Values Awards were presented
The High Human Values Awards have found their owners for the 8th time, which are given by the Üsküdar University Selection Committee to the individuals and institutions that are exemplary in their fields by the public in order to keep 24 gold values alive. Among the award winners this year were Merzifon Mayor Alp Kargı, who came to the forefront with his understanding of social and benevolent municipalism, and Merzifon Municipality Firefighter Burak Kürşat Aydın, who won hearts by dressing his own boots so that our citizens did not get cold, who worked barefoot under the rubble in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake disaster. Emphasizing that it is a universal right to do one-to-one kindness, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "We call one-to-one kindness quiet goodness. We know that the ideal kindness is to do it quietly, not by showing it off.".
The firefighter who gave his boots to the earthquake victim he pulled out of the debris was given the 'High Human Values Award'...
Üsküdar University presents "High Human Values Awards" to keep alive 24 golden values such as Justice, Honesty, Compassion and Mercy, Transparency, Courage, Empathy and Responsibility, Trust and Loyalty, Shame, Humility, Helpfulness, Lawfulness, Greeting, Sincerity, Forgiveness, Generosity, Altruism, Gratefulness, Pluralism, Participation, Libertarianism, Accountability, Compromise, Innovation and Fidelity.
This year's Üsküdar University 8 High Human Values Awards Ceremony was held at Üsküdar University Nermin Tarhan Conference Hall. This year's award winners are Merzifon Mayor Alp Kargı who stands out with his understanding of social and benevolent municipalism, Burak Kürşat Aydın who is a firefighter winning people’s hearts by giving his own boots to our citizens and working for 6 hours in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake disaster and barefoot from under the rubble so that they would not get cold, Gamze Özçelik, who provided financial and in-kind support to the oppressed people in Türkiye, Africa, the Middle East and Asia in line with their needs under the roof of Umuda Koşanlar Association, which she founded in 2017, Prof. Muhittin Şimşek, who has made significant contributions to education, science and the business world both in private institutions and at government levels, Poet Cengiz Numanoğlu, who devoted his pen to awakening the spiritual consciousness in people as well as the valuable works he presented to Turkish art music with his lyrics and compositions, Beyoğlu Selimiye Hatun Mosque Imam Hatip Osman Gökrem , which encourages similar relief activities in the community with the support it provides to people in need in the mosque where it serves. Artist Refik Anadol, who made our country proud by receiving international awards with his works that combined artificial intelligence and art and brought them to life, and Author Yusuf Kaplan, who was instrumental in the enlightenment of our society with his works and translated books.
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "We should reward it for the spread of good deeds"
President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan emphasized the importance of silent kindness and cooperation in his opening speech. Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, who started his speech by stating that they started the High Human Values Award Ceremonies in 2016, said, "If we want good and kind behaviors to spread in society, they need to be rewarded, encouraged and socially accepted. As a university, we also care about raising good people because we need to make sure that people use their talents in a good way.".
One can be a good computer graduate, but after graduation that person can be a 'hacker'...
Tarhan said that being a good person is more important than having a good profession and that they are working towards this goal. Tarhan said, "It is one of our duties to raise good people. A person can become a good computer engineer, but after graduation they become a 'hacker'. One becomes a chemical engineer, however, produces synthetic drugs. They may be evil people, not benevolent people.".
Values are deteriorating with globalization and social media...
Noting that it has been scientifically observed that the good values of humanity are not going well with globalization and social media, Tarhan said, "Here, it is necessary for a person to set life goals for themselves, to set abstract goals at the top of the life pyramid. What kind of person do you want to be called when you come to the end of your life? What kind of person do you want to be? What do you want written on your tombstone? These are important. We see the increase in the type of person who has no abstract goal, who only sanctifies their own interests.".
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "We teach human values in scientific format"
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the realization of human values is based on scientific evidence and said, "Human values are discussed globally in scientific congresses. In the 5th International Congress of Positive Psychology we have held in the past weeks, the guest of honor was the multi-intelligence theorist American Psychologist Prof. Howard Gardner and Garner said ‘life may be easier in the future, but it may not be easy to stay human...’ Yes, he talked about the possibility of losing our humanity. Against this risk, we strive to work in this way as much as we can. We started to give these human values to our students in a scientific format with a positive psychology course in 2013. All our students take that course as a compulsory course. Harvard started this course in 2015, and we started it before them. Even We organized the 5th Positive Psychology Congress with the theme of 'The Science of Kindness'.".
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "The ideal kindness must be done silently, not by showing it off"
Emphasizing that it is a universal right to do one-to-one kindness, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "We call one-to-one kindness, silent act of kindness. We know that the ideal kindness is to do it quietly, not by showing it off. However, the reason why we show the good deeds done at the High Human Values Award Ceremony is to be an example to young people. We aim to encourage them to do good. Then, there are the random act of kindness. There are random kindness projects in some universities abroad.”.
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "Configure quietly, not by showing ideal goodness"
Emphasizing that it is a universal right to do one-to-one kindness, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "We call one-to-one kindness quiet goodness. We know that the ideal good is to do it quietly, not by showing. But the reason why we show the good deeds done at the High Human Values Award Ceremony is to be an example to young people. We aim to encourage them to do good. Then there are the random favors. There are random kindness projects in some universities abroad," he said.
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "I set my hopes on young people"
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, who also expressed that he set his hopes on the youth because of what he saw in the first days of the Kahramanmaraş-based earthquake disaster, completed his remarks as follows:
"When the earthquake happened, the young people who were criticized as Generation Z mobilized all the student clubs here, supplied the needs and directed them to the regions. They worked day and night for 3-4 days. Not only the young people in our university, but also in our country, about whom we said, ‘Where is this youth going?’ gave their best support. If young people incorporate other human values into their lives, they will make fewer mistakes. People learn by trial and error; however, there is so much information that it is impossible to learn everything by trial and error. A lifetime is not enough for this, so it is necessary to learn from the experiences of others. The ideal learning is learning from experience. Innovation, entrepreneurship and self-development are important values. We have a responsibility to teach young people these things.".
The first award was given to Prof. Muhittin Şimşek
The first of the awards was presented to academician Prof. Muhittin Şimşek, who has made significant contributions to education, science and the business world in both private institutions and government levels. Prof. Muhittin Şimşek was presented the award by President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan. Stating that he has received many awards so far, Prof. Muhittin Şimşek said that there is no award that pleases him as much as this award. Highlighting the high spiritual value of the award, Prof. Muhittin Şimşek said, "Özdemir Asaf says, 'The value of a person is measured not by a penny but by his stance.' Thus, this reward is not measured in pennies, it is measured by stance.".
The 8th YİDER Award was presented to the poet Cengiz Numanoğlu
Anaother Üsküdar University 8th High Human Values Awards was presented to Poet Cengiz Numanoğlu, who dedicated his pen to awakening the spiritual consciousness in people as well as his lyrics and compositions and the valuable works he presented to Turkish art music. Poet Cengiz Numanoğlu, who could not attend the ceremony due to health problems, received the award from his foster daughter İkbal Gürpınar, who is also an artist. Numanoğlu's award was presented by President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan and Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Nazife Güngör İkbal Gürpınar. İkbal Gürpınar said that poet Cengiz Numanoğlu could not attend the ceremony due to the surgery he underwent, but he thanked Üsküdar University for the award. At the ceremony, Gürpınar read poet Cengiz Numanoğlu's poem "We were born human, but were we able to be one?".
Imam Hatip Osman Gökrem received his award from Prof. Nevzat Tarhan and Prof. Mehmet Zelka
Another High Human Values Award was presented to Beyoğlu Selimiye Hatun Mosque Imam Hatip Osman Gökrem, who encouraged similar charity activities in the community with the support he provided to people in need in the mosque where he served. Osman Gökrem was presented his award by President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan and Üsküdar University Advisor to the Rector Prof. Mehmet Zelka. Imam Hatip Osman Gökrem thanked them in his speech and talked about the relief work they did with the volunteers he named as " İyilik Delileri” Gökrem advised charitable donors to do their help by touching lives, not through someone's mediation.
He had given his boots to the earthquake victim in Kahramanmaraş
Merzifon Mayor Alp Kargı, who came to the forefront with his understanding of social and benevolent municipalism to the 8th High Human Values Award by Üsküdar University, and the Firefighter Burak Kürşat Aydın, who won our hearts by giving his own boots to our citizens not to get cold and who worked for 6 hours in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake disaster and pulled barefoot out from under the debris.
President Alp Kargı and Fire Fighter Burak Kürşat Aydın were presented their awards by President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan and Üsküdar University Vice Rector Prof. Hikmet Koçak. Merzifon Deputy Mayor Erkan Ergül, who received the award instead of Mayor Alp Kargı who could not attend the ceremony, thanked Üsküdar University for the award.
Firefighter Burak Kürşat Aydın, who experienced emotional moments, said: "I took off my boots with the most human reflex and gave them away"
Stating that they carry out studies on behalf of social municipalism as a municipality, Ergül said that immediately after the Kahramanmaraş earthquake, they went to the earthquake zone from Merzifon as Merzifon Municipality teams with the orders of Mayor Kargı without waiting for instructions from anyone, and they supported search and rescue efforts as well as container and food aid. Thanking Prof. Nevzat Tarhan and Üsküdar University for the award, Firefighter Burak Kürşat Aydın also talked about the search and rescue efforts in the earthquake area they went to immediately after the earthquake. Aydın, who had emotional moments, said, "During the search and rescue efforts, we pulled an elderly man out of the debris safely. I saw that his foot was naked and I felt the need to take off my boots and put them on him with a human reflex. Even now, I am still touched. I hope that Allah will not cause such pain again.".
Umuda Koşanlar Association President Gamze Özçelik also received an award
Gamze Özçelik: "When we nurture human values, we reach miracles"
Gamze Özçelik, the President of Umuda Koşanlar Association said that she has been extra emotional for the last 2 months due to the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş. Özçelik said that "I have discovered that the more we feed the human values bestowed on us by Almighty Allah, the more we reach miracles and happiness. I am thankful he made me notice. I thank my son for never asking 'Why are you going, Mom?' not even once since day one. He was always supportive, and he never caused trouble.". Özçelik concluded her speech by thanking his colleagues at the Umuda Koşanlar Association and Prof. Nevzat Tarhan.
Artist Refik Anadol received an award
Another name that received an award at the ceremony was the artist Refik Anadol for bringing the concept of digital art together with architecture, data science and artificial intelligence; for initiating the history of digital art in the world, and for setting an example to new generations with his diligence and creativity by implementing nearly 200 projects despite his young age.
Another award goes to Author Yusuf Kaplan...
Author Yusuf Kaplan was deemed worthy of an award for bringing new initiatives to our civilization-oriented integrative attitude, for creating a wide framework to the next generations by bringing new initiatives to our thought conventions, for bringing the valuable works of local and foreign thinkers whose names he mentioned and quoted in his writings to our language and interpreting them, and also for his valuable contributions in the field of media communication.
At the ceremony, the award winners were presented with the ÇEKÜL sapling certificate along with the Feeling Human statue.
The ceremony was broadcasted live on Üsküdar University Television ÜÜTV and Üsküdar University official YouTube account. The ceremony ended with a group photo shoot.
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)