The opening ceremony for the second class of Schwarzman Scholars was held at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, on September 8th. Attending the ceremony were Terry Edward Branstad, US Ambassador to China, Yang Bin, the Vice President of Tsinghua University, Gao Hong, the Vice Provost and Director of International Education Office at Tsinghua University, and Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, and Founding Trustee of Schwarzman Scholars. Also present at the ceremony were the leaders of Schwarzman College, namely Dean Wang Youqiang, the founding Dean David Daokui Li, Executive Dean David Q. Pan, Associate Deans Wenhao Cheng and Melanie Koenderman, and Chief Professor Xudong Gao.
In his address, Yang Bin, Vice President of Tsinghua University, welcomed and extended cordial greetings to the 126 Schwarzman Scholars on behalf of the students and faculty of Tsinghua. “Not long ago, you bade farewell to families, and came to the capital of this ancient oriental country. Today marks a new starting point in your journey of life. Whichever of the 26 countries that you come from, whether you have been to China or not, every one of you will have a proud new name: the “Tsinghuaer”. As a new member of Tsinghua, you will be presented with a wealth of opportunities to sharpen your brain, make true friends and demonstrate vitality and creativity. I do hope that you can immerse yourself in learning and write your own story of life at Tsinghua,” he said.
Terry Edward Branstad, US Ambassador to China, and Stephen A. Schwarzman also congratulated the second class of Schwarzman Scholars, encouraging them to be the best they themselves want to be, and wishing them all the best in the year ahead. “We are delighted to welcome our second class of Scholars to Beijing. They join a community of Scholars who will make up an influential alumni network dedicated to improving multi-national cooperation and understanding”, Schwarzman said.
Three student representatives expressed their thanks to all of the remarkable people who have made this possible and stated that there is still more to learn at Tsinghua. “We are here at Tsinghua University, China’s premier institution of higher education. We’re here to learn with China’s best scholars and students, to get lost in Tsinghua libraries, to compete on the green football fields, and to become part of a community of students who will one day become leaders in China”, Roxanne Roman, the student representative from the United States said. They also shared some words from the Scholar pledge, “We, the students of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, do pledge that we will hold true to the principles of self-discipline and social commitment, striving for a better understanding of China and the world, in the service of our own nations and in the service of all humanity”, Bob Wu, the student representative from Australia said.
The ceremony started with a video in which Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the 108th Mayor of New York City, Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, and Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla extended their congratulations to the second class of Schwarzman Scholars.
Wang Youqiang, Dean of Schwarzman College, presided over the ceremony. He congratulated the second class of Schwarzman Scholars, “Dear Scholars, all of you will play a new role as an ambassador to Tsinghua University, China, your home country and the future of the world. Your study at Schwarzman College will begin a new chapter of your life, which will provide you with tremendous opportunities to explore China on the global stage and a global network that fosters your future success. I hope that all of you will learn from each other, respect each other and grow together. With our joint effort, we will make our contribution to this great college as a community. More importantly, we share a common mission to make the world a better place for everyone to live.” He said.
Schwarzman Scholars is a master’s degree program meticulously designed for the continued improvement of the global leadership skills of future world leaders. The program selects far-sighted and right-minded young talents from all over the world with academic aptitude, a sense of responsibility and the leadership potential for a one-year study course at Tsinghua University.
The second class of Schwarzman College has 126 scholars from 26 countries who graduated from the most prestigious graduate and undergraduate academic institutions in the world. Among them, 45% come from the USA, 20% from China, and 35% from the rest of the world.
By Guo Lili
