Commencement Ceremony for Postgraduate Students

The commencement ceremony for postgraduate students was held in Tsinghua on July 7, 2018. Of the postgraduates, 2,259 received doctoral degrees and 5,401 received master’s degrees. The President and Chairman of the Degree Conferral Committee of Tsinghua University, Qiu Yong, delivered the commencement speech. Tsinghua University Council Chairman Chen Xu, and other university leaders, awarded degrees and certificates to the new postgraduates. The Vice President and Vice Chairman of the Degree Conferral Committee of Tsinghua University Yang Bin presided over the ceremony. The Vice President of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stefan Ostlund attended the ceremony.

In his speech, President Qiu congratulated the graduates on behalf of the University. He noted that over 400 international graduate students from more than 70 countries around the world attended the ceremony. The “open” Tsinghua has attracted more and more international students and scholars, and has also allowed more and more teachers and students from Tsinghua to go abroad. Openness and inclusiveness are important traditions of Tsinghua University. The Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), the Global Innovation eXchange institute in Seattle, Schwarzman Scholars, the China-Italy Design Innovation Hub in Milan, the World Peace Forum, the Belt and Road Davos Forum, the Asian Universities Alliance, and a series of other successful international cooperation projects have demonstrated the solid pace of Tsinghua’s global strategy. Tsinghua is moving towards the world in a more open and confident manner, with its voices heard more frequently around the world.

Qiu Yong also pointed out that in an era of globalization, it has become a mainstream impulse to become more open in the development of higher education. The ties between universities are increasingly close. Universities are playing a more and more important role in promoting exchanges between different countries, different nationalities and different cultures.  “You are at an important historical moment in the development of human civilization. You are about to face a more open era. You should try your best to keep pace with the times and lighten your life with an open spirit,” Qiu Yong said. He raised several hopes for graduates: to keep pace with the open era, you must have the courage to innovate; learn to respect different voices; and follow your inner values.

Editors: John Olbrich, Li Han, Guo Lili