The 55th Commencement witnessed over a thousand students graduating from UIC and obtaining their Bachelor Degrees by Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). Around 600 of them celebrated together with their family and friends at the Academic Community Hall on 15 November.
Presiding over the Commencement was Mr Cheng Yan Kee, JP, Chairman of the Council and the Court at HKBU.
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| Mr Cheng Yan Kee congratulates a graduate. |
“Start small, dream big”
HKBU President and Vice-Chancellor Prof Albert S C Chan presented degree certificates to graduates and said: “Graduation is not an end, but a beginning. We call this occasion ‘commencement’ because you are at the starting point of your next exciting journey.”
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| Prof Albert S C Chan presents the degree certificate. |
Prof Chan encouraged the graduates to “be ready to start small, but dream big.”
“You may find yourself starting at the bottom of the ladder in the workplace. Please stay hopeful. Many of the giants of our times started small.
“Be kind to yourself, take breaks, and make time for the people that are important. At the end of your career, you may find that what matters most are the people who made the journey with you, the laughter and tears you shared, the lives you touched, and those that touched yours.”
A total of 56 students were awarded with a First Class Honours Degree, and 17 collected Scholastic Awards.
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| HKBU Vice-President (Academic) Prof Franklin T Luk presents a student with Scholastic Award. |
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| Attending the event were (from left) Prof Stella Cho, Dean of the Division of Business and Management; Prof Mei-hwa Sung, Dean of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences; Prof Stephen Chung, Dean of the Division of Science and Technology; and other guests. |
Lee Tun Yueng delivered a valedictory speech on behalf of the 2014 graduate class. He said if it was not for the “priceless experience at UIC”, he would never be as confident and purposeful as today.
“I truly believe that UIC graduates like us can use our talent to serving the people and build a better society. We can make a difference!” he added.
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| Lee Tun Yueng delivers a valedictory speech. |
By far, over 50% of the graduates have chosen to continue their studies in various institutions such as Columbia University, Georgetown University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Australian National University, the University of Hong Kong and HKBU. Some of those who decide to start a career have been employed by the Big Four accounting firms (PWC, Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young), IBM Guangzhou, Kingsoft and other famous enterprises.
Jointly founded by Beijing Normal University and HKBU in 2005, UIC is the first full-scale cooperation in higher education between the mainland and Hong Kong. Graduates are awarded Bachelor Degrees by HKBU and Graduation Certificates by UIC.
Reporter: Deen He
Photographers: Du Shasha (IJ, Year Two), Vivi Xie, Simon Liu, Cheryl Chen
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)
