Tsinghua University held an opening ceremony and welcomed the new cohort of undergraduate students on September 3.
Tsinghua President Qiu Yong delivered a speech during the opening ceremony. Tsinghua University Council Chairperson Chen Xu and other university leaders attended the ceremony, moderated by Tsinghua Vice President Peng Gang.
Tsinghua has enrolled more than 3,800 new undergraduates this year.
President Qiu, in his remarks, welcomed all freshmen to their new home. “I believe this beautiful campus will be more vibrant because of your presence and your youthful spirits, and you will leave your mark on the Tsinghua campus,” he said. “I believe that you will blossom into a more brilliant self in a journey of moving forward in this new era.”
President Qiu said that the new students were fortunate to be the first cohort of undergraduate students after Tsinghua celebrated its 110th anniversary, adding that they would witness a better Tsinghua in the years to come and that they would also grow into a better self.
Qiu emphasized in his speech that strong vitality has realized the immortality of individual life, the continuity of national bloodlines and the glory of human civilization. He hoped the students can always remain vigorous and positive in any circumstances and face all challenges with their power of youth.
“The spirit of self-improvement gives the Chinese nation majestic vitality. I hope that you will deeply understand the vitality of the Chinese nation, deepen your passion for your family and motherland, continue to enhance your ambition, integrity, and confidence, and devote yourselves to the great cause of national rejuvenation," said Qiu.
Qiu added, "The love of helping each other gives mankind infinite vitality. In the face of major challenges concerning the destiny of mankind, the university must shoulder its responsibility with a scientific spirit and an open mind. In the process of promoting the construction of the community with a shared future for mankind, young people must establish the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom for all mankind. "
Tsinghua University Council Chairperson Chen Xu wore the Tsinghua badge for the freshmen representative.
Liu Zhizhen, President of the Student Union, encouraged students to be brave in trying new things and to challenge themselves, learn to choose, stick to their ideals and move forward with persistence.
Mei Ciqi, Associate Professor from the School of Public Policy and Management, encouraged students not to be afraid of failure since it can make people see the limits and boundaries of their own abilities, and allow people see the landscape beyond winning and losing, as well as showing people the world beyond the individual.
Du Yu, representative of the freshmen, said that entering Tsinghua meant a new journey in life which needed all students to work up the courage of expanding boundaries and challenging limits and meet infinite possibilities in the future with confidence and composure.
Adopting anti-epidemic prevention and control measures, Tsinghua University held the opening ceremony in a hybrid online and offline format. Except for the main venue for the ceremony, 25 different venues were set up across campus for the freshmen to witness the ceremony. The event was also live-streamed worldwide on various social media platforms in both Chinese and English.
Writer: Sangeet
Editors: Li Han, John Olbrich, Guo Lili
