SEU holds 2023 Opening Ceremony
Southeast University (SEU) held its 2023 Opening Ceremony on September 15th, welcoming a new group of students. The ceremony featured various engaging activities, including a welcoming video on a large screen, performances by the Student Art Troupe, and speeches from college representatives. These moments were met with applause and cheers from the audience. This year’s opening ceremony was conducted in a hybrid format, allowing for both offline and online participation. Over ten thousand fresh undergraduate and graduate students attended the event, with students from the Suzhou Campus and the Wuxi Campus joining via live stream.
Zuo Wei, Secretary of CPC SEU Committee, Huang Ru, President of SEU and Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wang Jianguo, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Cui Tiejun, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Liu Pan, Executive Vice Secretary of CPC SEU Committee, Vice Presidents Huang Dawei, Zhong Wenqi, Qiu Haibo, Sun Litao, and Jin Shi, as well as representatives of faculty, alumni, senior high school principals and hundreds of parent representatives attended the event. Vice President Jin Shi presided over the ceremony.
SEU’s National Flag Guard made their entrance with resolute steps, escorting the national flag into the arena. All the teachers and students rose to their feet, joining their voices in the national anthem as they watched the five-star red flag ascend. Against the backdrop of the national anthem, the official commencement of the opening ceremony took place.
Led by Vice President Qiu Haibo, all medical students took an oath to enter the door of medicine, making a solemn promise of being a benevolent doctor.
Twelve student representatives each presented flowers to their respective parents and high school principals, expressing gratitude for the nurturing and guidance of their teachers and elders. Among others, Ge Jun, Secretary of the CPC Committee of High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University, Wei Xin, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Suzhou High School of Jiangsu Province, Gao Yingjiu, Secretary of the CPC Committee and Principal of Haimen Middle School, Jiangsu Province, Zhu Liuming, Secretary of the CPC Committee and Principal of Huaiyin High School, Jiangsu Province, Ding Cailin, Secretary of the CPC Committee and Principal of Jiangsu Yancheng Middle School, Li Fenping, Principal of the Affiliated High School of Shanxi University, Chen Hanming, Secretary of the CPC Committee and Principal of Xinzhou No.1 Middle School, Bai Yuliang, Principal of Ordos No. 1 High School, Zheng Xingchao, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Xi’an Tieyi Zhonglugang School, and Wang Zhanshuang, Vice Principal of Qinghai Huang Chuan Senior High School. As proposed by the moderator, the students on the scene picked up their mobile phones and sent blessing messages to their parents and teachers, expressing their gratitude for their care and guidance received.
Prof. Pan Yufeng from School of Life Science and Technology, representing the faculty, delivered a speech during the ceremony. He emphasized the importance of pursuing one’s interests, setting lofty goals, and integrating personal ideals into national development in an era of knowledge explosion and interconnectedness. Prof. Pan encouraged the students to embrace their ideals and engage in independent thinking to meet emerging challenges. He urged them to contribute their “SEU strength” to the social development with their own reflections and efforts.
As a representative of the alumni, Yang Lianfeng, from the Class of 1994 and now serving as Director and President of Primarius Technologies Co., Ltd. delivered a speech, in which he fondly recalled his days at SEU and witnessed the rapid development of science and technology. Meanwhile, he shared three insights with the students on how to seize the opportunities of the times: Firstly, to combine theory with practice, find personal interests and points of excitement; Secondly, to initiate proactive communication and face failures with courage; Thirdly, to stay focused and persistent in creating value for the era through innovation. He encouraged SEUers to embrace the broader interests of the nation, pursue excellence, and move forward with determination. He also urged them to become “dream chasers” who strive for great ideals through technological innovation.
Principal Huang Ru, on behalf of SEU, made a speech entitled “A Journal from SEU to the future” in which she expressed her congratulations and warm welcome to the Class of 2023 as the students had worked hard to earn their access to the beautiful SEU campus.
In her speech, President Huang emphasized that the mission of a high-level university like SEU is to “attract and cultivate global talents”, which is also the aspiration of every teacher. “As a university with a time-honored history and excellent quality, we committed to cultivate talents that lead the industry and shape the future, we are confident, determined and also capable of achieving this goal” President Huang said.
Huang Ru stated that the world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century and China is increasingly moving to the center of the world stage. We are in a critical stage for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is profoundly affecting all aspects of production and life, and driving significant changes of the times. Students are not only confronted with complex challenges, but also have golden opportunities, with honorable missions.
President Huang raised a set of questions for students’ reflections and soul-searching: How to live up to youth, how to strive for your targets? How to develop self-competitiveness and become better prepared for future challenges? How to live life to the fullest during your next four years at SEU? Following these questions, President Huang mentioned her expectations for the freshman from three perspectives.
First, students are expected to dream big and aim high, setting lofty goals to serving the nation and the people. Aspirations determine the height and one’s life and one’s attitude toward life. Huang also recalled the scene when President Xi Jinping visited the Purple Mountain Laboratories co-developed with SEU and delivered an inspiring message. She encouraged the students to think about “national affairs” and shoulder “national responsibilities”, focusing on significant matters rather than trivial details, and aiming for great achievements without getting discouraged by setbacks. She emphasized the significance of aligning what they are learning now with what the future demands, and making their due contributions to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Second, students are expected to think deep and set long-term goals. Colleges are cradles of knowledge and innovative ideas. President Huang mentioned the unprecedented opportunities and challenges brought by AI. She encouraged the students to be passionate about seeking the truth, to stay curious about and hungry for new knowledge, to have a good command of professional skills and cultivate domain expertise, to enhance their abilities of critical independent thinking, self-learning, innovation, and leadership. The students were also encouraged to explore unchartered territories, accomplish unprecedented feats, enhance their innovation ability, and strive to become leading talents shaping the future.
Third, students are expected to pursue their dreams. Taking Academician Sun Wei’s lifelong research in high-performance concrete and student Zhang Yufei’s goal of “winning honor for my country” as examples, Huang Ru believed that only through setbacks, challenges, and frustrations that student could become stronger in mind and make impossible possible.
In conclusion, she hoped that the students cultivate their love for the country by developing competence andperseverance. The students were expected to become not only a better version of themselves but also the pride of SEU and the nation as well.
During the ceremony, the present academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, leaders of SEU, and leaders of departments and colleges concerned wore the university badge for the representatives of the new students of the Class of 2023. With the school badge of “Southeast University” pinned on the chests, and the fresh students’ oath echoing throughout the venue, more than 10,000 fresh students have become SEUers since then.
The opening ceremony came to an end in the chorus of “Song of SEU”.
The opening ceremony was live-broadcasted on eight platforms, including CCTV.COM, SEU’s official video channel, Microblog, and Douyin, etc. Nearly a million viewers watched the ceremony online, and netizens left messages and likes to extend their best wishes to the Class of 2023 of SEU.