Speech from the Executive President at the 2012 opening ceremony

Dear students, parents, President Tao, all the teachers, guests and colleagues:

Welcome to the 2012 opening ceremony of Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU)!

Firstly, please allow me, on behalf of XJTLU, to offer my sincerest congratulations to all our new students. After 10 years’ hard work, you have passed the challenging Gaokao exams and finally arrived in the mysterious world of higher education.

At the same time, I also would like to commend all of you for making such a wise choice in choosing XJTLU. After fierce competition, you have successfully secured a place at XJTLU, which continues to attract greater attention from teachers, students and parents and is increasingly recognised throughout the world.

Most of you may only have a brief understanding of XJTLU, as it is a young child of just seven years old, which seems a little too young to be trusted; even so, it is a really special child who has an ambitious plan and has done impressive work thus far. If XJTLU was a real child, it would be possibly praised as a child prodigy. And I guess that is one of the reasons you chose it. Good choice!

Moreover, I would like to tell you more about XJTLU at this special moment, which might give you more confidence. XJTLU has been established with the core idea of ‘Happy life and successful career’. At XJTLU, our objective is to help students develop from kids to become global citizens with an international perspective and competitive abilities. However, really achieving these ideas and objectives relies on improving a wide range of abilities and developing a profound understanding of life. In response to global development trends and demands, XJTLU has drawn on the essence of both Eastern and Western culture and management wisdom, and aims to be a unique and international university in the world.

Through this approach, XJTLU is exploring and practising a “five-star” education model, which will help students to transfer from Kids to Young Adults and finally to Global Citizen with three systems, that is, a philosophy & value system, capability system, and knowledge system, with the assistance of a comprehensive education strategy and support systems of implementation. Unlike most traditional Chinese universities, which focus on knowledge feeding, XJTLU pays more attention to the healthy development of our students at this critical age by helping them have a full understanding of life, including philosophy, values, attitude, and behaviour. We also train them to learn “how to learn” and harvest capabilities for and throughout their life, such as lifelong learning ability; inspire them to develop a great career plan to release their energy and full potential. It is worth mentioning that the education model is only a means, but the end result will depend on yourselves, for which it needs your diligent action and active cooperation.

In order to implement our education philosophy, develop competitive global citizens, and exert positive influences for the reformation of Chinese HE and the development of HE around the world, we are trying very hard to advance three important transitions.

Firstly, it is to transfer students from kids to young adults. As all of you are over 18 years old or will be 18 very soon. Physically, you are adults, no longer kids. But it would be a little difficult for you to act as real adults immediately, because you were overly taken care of by parents and school teachers for more than 10 years, and your psychological and social age is still Young. Most students may need to change their attitude and behaviour to become successful adults. So this university will take you as young adults and help you grow up rapidly and realise how to have a fruitful and efficient campus life in the foundation year. We strongly recommend all of you to seriously consider “What do you really want during the four years’ time”. Moreover, all the faculty and staff at XJTLU are here to help you gain independence and mature quickly. And we do hope, with the international experience in XJTLU, you can become a global citizen, facing the world, standing on your own feet, building your stage for the future!

The second process is transitioning from passive to active learning, and then finally arriving at research-led learning. That is a really difficult task, especially for most Chinese students, because it can become a struggle to change your personal learning habits in a way. However, the result of this struggle can become a significant milestone in your life. So, give me your hands and show me your power. We are all here to help you go through this journey!

Last but not least, it is also about your learning methodology. We hope, as an XJTLU student, you can learn in an interest-oriented way but not aimlessly. Aimless learning is one of the most terrible things in your life. Under it, you have no dedication, no enthusiasm. You will be totally wasting your life! That is what we would never want to see. If you have no direction at this moment, please do not feel too worried about it, because this is normal. And that might also be the reason you are here, because XJTLU can help you to find your interest, your dream, and the way to reach it.

XJTLU has had three wonderful cohorts of graduates until now, who have done very well. More than 10% of them have entered top 10 universities and a large amount of them (more than 50%) have gone on to top 100 universities around the world, including but not limited to, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Cornell University, and the University of Pennsylvania, to continue their master's and PhD courses, while others have received employment positions in the top 500 enterprises and have begun to build their world. Maybe one day, you will follow the same path, because you are now here at the same starting point as they had.

So, what are you waiting for now? Just run!

Thanks!

Professor Youmin Xi