大学开学典礼 英文

大学开学典礼 英文

大学开学典礼 英文

　　Students of Duke Kunshan University, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning!

　　I am very delighted and privileged to represent Duke Kunshan University faculty and staff to speak to you; young, talented students from the United States,China and all over the world: Welcome! You, the owners of Duke Kunshan University, a brand new model of higher education! Honestly speaking, those words have been in my mind for two years. Kunsan and Duke people have been waiting for this moment for as long as seven years. Now that we are finally able to greet you and welcome you to DKU, we are filled with cheer and excitement and we can’t wait any longer.

　　We say DKU is a brand new model of higher education notjust because it was jointly created by two leading universities, Duke University from the United States and Wuhan University from China, but also because DKU introduces Duke University’s advanced education idea, administration model, teaching pedagogy and curricular design into the context of Chinese higher education system. DKU aims at becoming an elite, research, comprehensive and international world-class university, on the basis of learning, digesting, absorption, and re-innovation in line with Chinese culture, social and economic developmentneeds. This is what we planned to do and this is what we are doing.

　　By learning from Duke University’s commitment to knowledge in the service of society and Wuhan University’s educational missions of truth and innovation, we are thinking to define the mission of DKU as serving truth and justice, serving nations and societies. Learning from Duke’s model, we have established a Board of Trustees, an Academic Council, a Board of Advisors and a flat management structure. With a demand-orientated, problem-orientated and future-oriented strategy, DKU will establish a number of interdisciplinary, cross-field and cross-industry collaborative research centers which offer undergraduate, master and doctoral, and post-doc education andresearch programs, in order to achieve an new model of vertical learning, and an integration of talent cultivation, research, social service, cultural inheritance and innovation. We have already established the DKU Global Health Research Center, we are currently working on the Environment management andEnergy Policy Research Center, and others based on the social and economic development needs of the world and China. We have introduced not only three interdisciplinary master-degree programs from Duke University, but also its undergraduate Liberal Arts education. We will continue to introduce moreacademic programs based on needs, relevant problems and future trends. With academic support from Duke University and Wuhan University, through the effortsof faculty and students, I am confident that DKU will demonstrate its unique education characteristics among world university communities, build its own academic strengths and form its own spirit. As you have seen, we have many professors and staff from Duke, they are the witness to see this and they are the guarantee to achieve our ambitious, long-term goals. I would like toexpress our sincerest respect and gratitude to them for crossing the Pacific Ocean to work for DKU in China! Let’s give them applause.

　　We say DKU’s campus is brand new not only because it will be unveiled very soon, but also because of its pioneering design concept; the harmony of people, building, campus and Kunshan’s distinctive water-town environment; its high-standard, automatic, intelligent，energy-saving，technology and management system stands out among all universities in China; its magnificent architecture and dynamic space beautifully blend the innovative and creative spirit of Americans with the harmonious culture of Chinese. It was a very visionary and fortunate decision to locate our campus in Kunshan, a city with a history of more than two thousand years and great vitality because of globalization. More than fifteen centuries ago, Zu Chongzhi, mathematician and then-Magistrate of Kunshan, calculated πto theseventh decimal, about a thousand years earlier than Europeans. Kunshan is the origin of Kun Opera, the ancestor of all Chinese operas. I am sure you will have many opportunities to enjoy the fascinating Kun Opera.

　　Inaddition to its long-standing traditions of sciences and humanities, Kunshan’sbeautiful natural environment makes it a great city to live in. The tranquilitysurrounding our campus makes it a great place to study. Today, I must pay myrespect to the ones who chose this great location and the ones who designed andbuilt the DKU campus. Today, However, I also regret to have to tell that you will not have classes and live on campus as planned due to the fact that it takes time to beautify outdoor environment and to purify the air of the interior decoration. For the sake of your safety and health, DKU will follow strict design standards to inspect and accept the campus. Many world-famous architects once said: Architecture is a regrettable art. After you move into the campus,you might still find some regrettable small issues. Now I promise to you onbehalf of DKU and the construction team that we will do everything we can to ensureyour satisfaction. We will respond as quickly as possible and offer warm andtimely services should any issues arise.

　　We say you are thefirst owner of the campus, we don't just mean you are the first group of students at DKU but you are also the true owner of the campus, co-founders and administrators. Without you, there is no way for us to build and develop ouruniversity. One scholar once said that university means academic community inLatin. It is a community of faculty, scholars and students. As Steven Brintpointed out in 2001, Communities are aggregates of people who share common activities and/or beliefs and who are bound togetherprincipally by relations of affect, loyalty, common values, and/or personalconcern. In this community at DKU, nomatter where you are from, what your beliefs are, whether you are faculty orstudents, academics will be our common link and way of living. It is our commongoal to pursue academic freedom and innovation, academic purity and integrity.In this community at DKU, it is our common belief “to serve with my feeblecapacity truth and justice”, as said by Einstein, and “to apply knowledge inservice of society”, as advocated by Duke University. In this community at DKU,faculty and students respect each other, care about each other and exploreknowledge and the unknown together. In his speech given at Tsinghua University,President Brodhead of Duke university said, “In this concept, faculty membersare explorers and discoverers, not primarily authority figures; students andteachers are there to search together; and every idea, however final it mayseem, not only can be, but needs to be, questioned, tested, reconsidered, forknowledge to keep advancing”. This is why at DKU we welcome and encouragestudents to question faculty and staff, question the school and chancellors. Wedeeply believe that your questioning is exactly what will advance DKU.

　　Among the newstudents at DKU, we have 42 students in the three Master’s programs. They comefrom ten different countries including America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Amongthem, 57% are Chinese students, 43% are international students from differentcountries, including 19% American students. I know most of you are here becauseof Duke’s world-class educational resources and the unique cross-culturallearning environment provided at DKU. As time goes by, you will realize you haveabsolutely made the right decision. At the moment, we have 32 MMS students whohave already concluded their orientation and started their classes on DukeCampus. They will travel back to DKU to finish their study in next semester.Students in other two Master’s programs will also have opportunities to studyat Duke for about a semester. At DKU, students will have the same access asDuke students to the Duke online library and other resources, including labresources in the future. Our international teaching and communicationenvironment will provide all students with cross-boundary learning experiencesand field trip opportunities. All students will be immersed and will grow indifferent cultural and social environment. This hard-won experience will equipyou with a greater international perspective. You can develop your career withstronger global competency. Our target is to cultivate global citizens who takeroots in their own national culture. Our definition of a global citizen is whorespects, understands, tolerates and appreciates different cultures andtraditions, abides by the laws of each country, adheres to the beliefs offreedom, equality, justice and righteousness, and is capable of communicationin international common languages, and is a citizen with a strong sense ofresponsibility, who can serve the whole of humanity.

　　This fall, we have received 62students for our Undergraduate Global Learning Semester program. They are topstudents from famous universities in China, America and India, such as DukeUniversity, Shiv Nadar University, Peking University, Tsinghua University,Fudan University, Nanjing University, Wuhan University, etc. Here, I would liketo welcome all of you on behalf of DKU. Your study at DKU might be as short asonly one semester, but you will always be a member of us and will become ourlife-long alumni. To join this program means more than the study of courses,you will also get a taste of American liberal arts education provided by DukeUniversity and be exposed to advanced educational concepts and pedagogy fromhigher education pioneers, so that you can be prepared to take up a series ofmajor challenges faced by human beings in the context of economicglobalization, science and technology revolution and social transformation inthe 21st century. Your expectation of this program is exactly why westarted it in the first place. During the semester, you will understand that modernliberal arts education teaches us HOW to learn and think rather than WHAT tolearn and think. You will also better understand what a student-orientedteaching approach is, what cross-cultural communication is, what field studyis, what self-study and self-reflection is and so on. All in all, the purposeof the liberal arts education is to grant students “independent spirit and freethoughts”. This echoes with the saying of Thomas Jefferson, the third presidentin the US, “Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact,every opinion…you must lay aside all prejudice on both sides, and neitherbelieve nor reject anything, because any other persons, or description ofpersons, have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle givenyou by heaven, and you are answerable, not for the rightness, but uprightnessof the decision.”

　　Dear students, this is our Duke Kunshan University. World-class faculty and outstanding students with the shared dream of creating a world-class university have gathered here today. DKUis a nascent newborn and needs nurture and care. However, it is uniquely pretty,because it is created by two top universities in the United States and China.It was born from the collision and convergence of the best that Eastern andWestern cultures can offer. Its energy and vitality makes us fully confident inits future. I also want to let you know that DKU has been identified as one ofthe key projects in the Joint Result List of the Fifth US-China High-level Consultation onPeople-to-People Exchange. The Consultation document laid out the target of“building platform for joint research of competitive disciplines andtalent-cultivation”. We are convinced that with strong support from Wuhan University,Duke University and Kunshan government and people, our faculty, students andstaff at DKU, we can jointly build DKU into a world-level “research andtalent-cultivation platform” in the future. On this platform, as expected byMinister Yuan Guiren of China’s Ministry of Education, we will achievesomething that neither American universities nor Chinese universities canachieve alone. In due time, all of us co-creators of DKU and all those who expectnothing less than for DKU to become a world-class university will, because ofyour efforts, smile with sincere gratification.

　　Thank you.

【大学开学典礼 英文】相关文章：

开学典礼英文10-03

大学英文毕业感言11-27

关于大学英文诗歌朗诵,大学英文诗歌朗诵10-09

大学英文请假条11-19

大学英文自我介绍11-18

大学毕业感言英文11-25

大学英文的自我介绍01-11

英文的大学自我介绍03-20

大学毕业感言英文10-08

大学推荐信英文10-06