WKU Class of 2020 Opening Ceremony

On the evening of September 9th, 2016, Wenzhou-Kean University held the Class of 2020 Opening Ceremony.  In attendance were Mr. QIAN Sanxiong, the Deputy Secretary of the Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee; Mr. Frank Wang, the Chairman of the WKU Board of Directors; WKU Chancellor Mr. LU Shanzhen; Mr. Philip Connelly, the Executive Vice Chancellor of WKU, and Dr. Holger Henke, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

The 2016 entering class consists of 480 tier-one students from ten provinces all over China and nine exchange students from Kean USA. One international student, Njau George Solomon from Tanzania, also participated in the ceremony.

Chancellor LU Shanzhen said, “Today’s world is a world of openness and cooperation. The university’s mission is:  commitment to preparing high-performing Chinese and international students to become innovative and entrepreneurial leaders in a knowledge-based economy. It will contribute to China’s educational reform and serve as a model for other Chinese-American higher education initiatives.  Developing students’ critical and innovative thinking skills as well as global thinking ability have always been the essence of American-style education.”

Executive Vice Chancellor Connelly, in his speech, encouraged the whole WKU community to work hard to elevate the University to the status of a World Class Institution.  He also played a video of Kean University President Dr. Dawood Farahi, sending greetings to the new students from 8,000 miles away in the United States.

Faculty representative Professor Vinita Gaikwad shared a brief story with the audience.  The essence was: Effort is important, but knowledge about where and how to make an effort makes all the difference.

New Student Speaker Ms. LIN Yinan and Senior Student Speaker Ms. LOU Minghui also presented.  Ms. LOU said, “College life is like an adventure, full of opportunities and challenges.  Let’s live boldly.  Push ourselves harder.  Don’t settle.”

Mr. QIAN Sanxiong, the Deputy Secretary of Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee remarked, “Today’s Wenzhou-Kean University has the central authorities’ care and attention and the Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee’s and government’s full support.  And you have nearly 100 foreign faculty with global vision and high academic level who have come all the way from the United States or other countries to teach here.  I would say with such good timing, geographical convenience and harmonious human relations, the University will surely have a brighter future.  The Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee and Wenzhou government will continue to support the development of Wenzhou-Kean University and make every endeavor to provide all kinds of facilities and support to the teachers and students’ work, study and life here.  I hope that you can actively merge into Wenzhou, love Wenzhou and accumulate more “positive energy” for the city’s development.”