Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

Over 1,300 undergraduate students, professors and faculty attended a ceremony held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ) in Longgang District on Saturday to celebrate the beginning of the new school term.

Due to the epidemic, participants arrived in four different batches to attend the ceremony.

The ceremony was also put online. International students, postgraduates and guests joined the online session.

Distinguished guests included James J. Heckman, professor from the University of Chicago and a Nobel Laureate in economics in 2000, and Zhang Yitang, renowned mathematician; both delivered speeches online.

Heckman encouraged students to explore new viewpoints, new ideologies and new values.

Professor Tang said that academic achievements were results of hard work and emphasized cultural cultivation during study.

Xu Yangsheng, president of CUHK-SZ, also made remarks at the ceremony.

Xu appreciated the fresh students’ hard work that got them successfully admitted to the university during the epidemic.

“University is a brand-new beginning. Now that we have already saluted your past achievements, it’s time to let go of them. Yes, disburden your mind of past successes so that it can grow and expand afresh,” said Xu.

Xu encouraged students to face challenges bravely. “You may have already heard that the university environment is very different from high school. No matter how impressed you used to be, I want you to be prepared to embrace changes, to be ready to be inspired and transformed.”

Xu also emphasized the value of humanity and the powers of kindness, empathy, and sensibility. He also hoped students would act with responsibility and make that a habit.