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| Graduates throw mortarboards in the air |
Over 1,000 students graduated from UIC this year, and four prominent individuals were conferred Honorary Fellowships at the 7th Graduation Ceremony and Honorary Fellowship Conferment on 27 June.
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| (From L) HKBU Associate Vice President Prof Huang Yu, BNU Vice President Prof Zhou Zuoyu, HKBU President and Vice-Chancellor Prof Albert Chan, Honorary Fellows Liu Changle, Wang Meng, Chairman of the UIC Council Prof Xu Jialu, Prof Chang Hsin-Kang, Dr Paul Pribbenow, and UIC President Prof Ng Ching-Fai |
‘Unto the whole person’
A temporary tent was erected for the ceremony to protect those present from the sweltering heat. Crowds of relatives and friends came to witness the graduates who were decked out in matching gowns, to be presented with certificates of completion.
In his address to the graduates, UIC President Prof Ng Ching-Fai sent them his heartiest congratulations and recalled what the college has achieved in the past six months.
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| President Prof Ng with a graduate |
“The college nurtures talented students so that they have extensive knowledge and a desire to aim high as well as integrate knowledge with practice. In other words, I would like to say, ‘In knowledge and in deeds, unto the whole person.’ I hope you will bear these words in mind and live up to public expectations from a UICer,” said Prof Ng, who also revealed construction of the new campus would be started shortly.
Honorary Fellowship Conferment
UIC conferred Honorary Fellowships on four prominent individuals in the fields of academia, media and literature. The receivers of the Honorary Fellowships were the former President of City University of Hong Kong and former Chairman of the Cultural and Heritage Commission of Hong Kong Prof Chang Hsin-Kang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited Liu Changle, Augsburg College President Dr Paul C Pribbenow, as well as famous writer and former Minister of Culture of China Wang Meng.
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| Prof Xu Jialu confers an Honorary Fellowship on Prof Chang Hsin-Kang |
The Honorary Fellowship is an honour bestowed on distinguished contributors to the mission of UIC for their sustained commitment to the development of education and society.
Prof Xu Jialu, Chairman of the UIC Council and former Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, presided over the Conferment.
As the first college co-founded by educational institutions between Hong Kong and mainland China, UIC conferred its first Honorary Fellowships in 2012, keeping up with Hong Kong Baptist University’s tradition.
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| The four Honorary Fellows receive this honour for their distinguished contributions to the mission of UIC and sustained commitment to the development of education and society |
At the Conferment Prof Chang Hsin-Kang delivered a vote of thanks, highlighting the importance of communication and interaction in the globalisation era as well as adding, “That’s why United International College makes sense.”
Bright future
Among the graduates were the pioneer classes of Contemporary English Language and Literature Programme plus the Financial Mathematics Programme.
As at the beginning of June, over 60% of the graduates chose to continue their studies in various institutions, almost 200 of whom have received offers from world top 100 universities. Among them, Applied Psychology student Cao Ruoyi has been enrolled for the five-year PhD direct-entry programme with full scholarship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Some of those who decide to start a career were employed by the Big Four accounting firms (PWC, Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young) and other famous enterprises.
Cradle of dreams
The ceremony consisted of three sessions. Vice President Prof Zee Sze-Yong presented graduates with graduation certificates, and deans of the three divisions, Prof Mei-hwa Sung, Prof Stephen Chung and Prof Stella Cho, gave the graduation booklet, My Days at UIC, as a souvenir.
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| Prof Zee Sze-Yong presents a graduation certificate to a graduate |
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| Prof Stella Cho, Prof Mei-hwa Sung and Prof Stephen Chung give the graduation booklet |
For the first time, one student representative from each division delivered a valedictory speech. Xia Weixuan from the Financial Mathematics Programme of the Division of Science and Technology said: “I'm proud to praise UIC as a cradle of dreams - a cradle that has bestowed on us the confidence and courage to face any upcoming challenge. If I could live my undergraduate life over, I would not hesitate to select UIC again.”
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| Valedictorians Yang Chenxi, Zhu Yunan and Xia Weixuan |
Also attending the ceremony were Hong Kong Baptist University’s President and Vice-Chancellor Prof Albert Chan, Vice President Andy Lee, Associate Vice President Prof Huang Yu, Dean of the School of Continuing Education Dr Simon Wong, Beijing Normal University's Vice President Prof Zhou Zuoyu, Zhuhai’s deputy mayor Long Guangyan, Zhongshan’s deputy mayor Wu Yuexia, as well as many other guests.
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| Many guests attend the ceremony |
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| A graduate with her family members and relatives |
Photographer: Tong Haiyan, Lu Yu, Sean Chung, Vivi Xie, Simon Liu, Deen He
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to Samuel Burgess)
