Peking University, July 7, 2017: July 5th witnessed the commencement and the degree ceremony of the 2017 graduates at the Peking University Gymnasium. Peking university school board, the department officials, faculty and staff representatives attended the commencement hosted by Professor Ye Jingyi, vice chairman of Peking University Council.
A retrospective video marked the beginning of the ceremony, in which many iconic landmarks, activities and other elements pieced up a sparkling memory of the past 4-year time. What followed was a classical poem “Forever Campus” recited by scholar and student representatives. With lines like “The spirit of Peking University—the spirit of China, is developing here. The campus is forever,” it recalled a strong sense of mission from everyone’s heart.
The ceremony officially started with the national anthem. PKU Executive Vice President Wu Zhipan announced Doctor’s and Master’s Degrees awarded to 1879 and 5894 graduates, respectively. Vice President Gao Song announced the award to 100 outstanding Ph. D. thesis.
Hao Ping
Hao Ping congratulated the students for their graduation and wished them a bright future. He shared with the students how proud and moved he was when he learned about the touching stories underlying this year’s graduation theme exhibition. He hoped students to remember that, no matter how scattered and far away students may be in the society in future, Peking University will always bear its students in mind. As the enchanting spiritual homeland of all students, PKU will always support them. He also announced another award to grant 1587 graduates “2017 Peking University outstanding graduates” and recommend 507 graduates “2017 Beijing Higher Education Outstanding Graduates.”
Jiang Zihan
Ph. D. student Jiang Zihan from Peking University Health Centre offered the graduation speech. Jiang shared with the audience what she saw, learned and thought during the eight years she spent on this land: Throughout the years, Peking University has not only taught her great depth of professional expertise, but also raised her to be a responsible idealist with independence and freedom to think. She also experienced the medical gap between our nation and the more developed Western countries. When she walks into the society, she hopes to cooperate with students from other majors, in which everyone demonstrates a deep knowledge of his or her subject so as to escort the future development of China.
Cody Abbey
Master student Cody Abbey from Yenching Academy also delivered a lively speech. Although he is from America, the Chinese idea of “Gentlemen differ in harmony” impressed him just so much.He remarked that in this global era, everybody needs to understand and recognize others with a more open attitude. Learning to accept things that are not identical to us, we can change the world for the better bit by bit by cross-culture communication.
Huang Ru
Ge Zhaoguang
Afterwards, the tutor representative Huang Ru from PKU School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, and the alumni representative Ge Zhaoguang also conducted speeches. They expect graduates to remain decent and kind, they should be always “on the way,” and persist in what they love.
Later, a video from the staffs, tutors and parents was shown to express their blessings to the graduates, wishing them to be always healthy, happy and enjoy what they do.
Lin Jianhua
The final speech of the commencement was delivered by PKU president Lin Jianhua. He pointed out that people should never lose their moral principals in the blind pursuit for wealth and interest. He compared the life to a marathon without judges in which the durability of self-restriction weigh much more than the speed. As he said,“ Every step counts.” He also quoted from Ba Jin, a famous Chinese writer to say that we are all soldiers. However, our weapons are not guns and powder. Knowledge, belief and firm volition will equip us more powerfully.
Finally, all teachers and students sang the song “The Love for Yan Garden” together. Hopefully, all the graduates of 2017 will become the pillars of tomorrow and lead the future of China.
