This beautiful autumn has marked the entry of the 2020 graduate class at Zhejiang University (ZJU). The honoring ceremony for the new cohort of the School of Public Affairs was held in the Water Lecture Hall of Zijingang Campus at Zhejiang University on the morning of September 13, 2020. Yang Guofu, secretary of the CCP committee of the college and vice president of the School of Public Affairs, presented the commencement with his colleagues from various departments including Qian Wenrong, Zhang Weiwen, and Tan Rong to meet with the new graduate students of 2020. Yao Chen, deputy secretary of the party committee and secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the college, hosted the college commencement. The event was put online for students cannot physically attend the ceremony.
This year the school of public affairs has admitted 566 postgraduate students, including 86 doctoral candidates, 94 master of science candidates, 375 MPA, and 11 MAE candidates. The ceremony kicked off with the solemn national anthem, followed by the commencement speech delivered by the Vice President and Professor Qian Wenrong, who spoke on the international and domestic situation of great changes not seen in a century and encouraged the students to be well-prepared for a future full of uncertainty and possibilities. Qian further emphasized the importance of innovation and patriotism and encouraged the students to build solid academic and problem-solving capacities with a broad horizon. He appealed to conduct studies in a down-to-earth manner, living up to their ambitions and making good use of time.
Professor Li Shi from the Department of Social Security and risk Management represented the faculties to deliver a speech entitled Why do we study. Basing on his 35 years' research experience, Li Shi introduced the concept of maximizing lifelong happiness. With the examples of Nobel Laureates in Economics, he pointed out four ways in which the act of research may contribute to the sense of happiness, that research “may gratify curiosity, reveal the known, make the researcher forget about daily troubles, and upgrade life quality by lifting the ability to think”. He upheld the virtue of perseverance in conducting social science research and wished the new cohort a bright future making contributions to academia.
Four student representatives spoke at the ceremony. Xu Siyi, representative of alumni and the graduate class of 2016, centered on the themes of setting goals and making choice, “practicing knowledge and taking responsibility while aiming high” to share her educational experience at ZJU with the new cohort; Chen Hanpo, representative of seniors and secretary of the General Branch of the Graduate League of the College, extended his perspective of innovation in creation, innovation in public loyalty, and innovation in integrity with his learning experience; Yang Huaxin, representative of the MPA 2020 class, called to integrate the learned knowledge, the concerns of people, and the care for society into the practice of public management; while Feng Linran, representative of the 2020 class of MPA, spoke about the determination to fight for a better future for the welfare of the nation and its people.
To help the new graduate cohort adapt to the life and work at ZJU, the college has adopted a tutorial system. At the ceremony, Yang Guofu, secretary of the CCP committee of the college, publicly delivered the letter of appointment to the tutor representative of the class of 2020. The tutors will be the first to help the students in case of need and will remain their strongest support in the following three years.
The ceremony ended with the new cohort raising their right fists and taking the oath of commitment to graduate study.
