Executive President's speech at the 2013 opening ceremony

Dear students, parents, all staff and friends,

Welcome to the 2013 new student inauguration ceremony.

First of all, I’d like to, on behalf of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, extend my heartfelt congratulations to all new students for your excellent performance in Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination) and for becoming XJTLUers. Choosing a university is one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life, as the competitiveness of your academic degree depends on the university from which you obtain it, and more importantly, university is where you cultivate your sustainable development capabilities and thus enable you to lay a solid foundation for your entire future life. I believe it is the decision you made after quite a lot of deliberation. I should congratulate you that you made the right decision. I strongly believe that the whole XJTLU team will strive together to turn your dreams into reality.

XJTLU is a new international university born in an era that calls for reflection in higher education and the reshaping of universities. XJTLU stands out among other conventional universities with its distinctive features not only because it has been able to create the unique “Five-Star” educational model in response to the demands of global development by blending the best intellectual, cultural and educational practices of both the East and the West, or because it has been committed to producing global citizens with international perceptions and competitiveness, but also because it takes it as an ultimate goal that students can develop correct self-cognition, hold their unbending faith in future life and become a lifelong beneficiary of the philosophy and value system, capability system, and knowledge system provided by the University. I hope that the moment you enter the University, you can stop thinking of yourself as a child, as you are physically already a grown-up. Meanwhile, our students' parents should also stop treating our students as underage children; instead, they can try to back off, leaving more space for students’ self-development.

Unlike elementary and high school, which you are familiar with, university is more about providing platforms and even stages, besides subject knowledge, for you to explore, tap into and display your interests and potential. The more active you are, the more you will gain. Otherwise, you will be wasting these valuable educational resources, and what’s worse, you will miss a golden opportunity for personal growth. Compared with other conventional universities in China, XJTLU will provide you with a highly international environment, in which, benefiting from globally integrated educational resources, you are expected to enhance your lifelong learning capacity, capabilities in solving problems through integration and application of knowledge, as well as your innovation, executive and cooperative engagement skills.

To this end, XJTLU is devoted to transforming students on three fronts: from children into young adults, all the way into global citizens, from passive into active, further into research-led learning, from study with no aims into study driven by interests, all the way up into being able to plan for their own future.

China’s basic education has evolved for decades, and, although to some extent, it is instrumental in helping students lay a solid foundation of knowledge, it has long been blamed for getting students into a passive and cramming style of learning in which students are asked to memorise all the knowledge points they are taught and they are solely measured by their performance in examinations. This examination-oriented education has left students no chance to explore and develop their interests, and as a result, students become used to being passively driven forward. The unfortunate consequence of this is that most students will find it extremely difficult to adapt to real society, or may even be completely overwhelmed by huge pressures from fierce competition – a dire episode, which we hope will never happen to our students.

With this in mind, we have made bold attempts at education explorations and reforms and developed an operational idea which emphasises a student- and learning-centred educational philosophy to keep with the trend of global development and the “Five-Star” educational model featuring an optimised integration of the educational essences of the world, which combined with a campus culture with diversity, regulation, innovation, freedom and trust as its core elements as well as our friendly seamless connected network service platforms, have together promoted students’ transformation towards global citizenship. It is my sincere hope that with the professional guidance you will receive from various tutors, you should soon begin to explore these vital questions: What do I need? What do I want? How can I get more of the good things in life? What are my real interests? What is my dream? How can I live a meaningful university life? Sounds simple to answer? Not really. Actually, your answers to these questions may bring a world of difference to your life.

XJTLU has so far produced four cohorts of graduates. They have come to the fore with their prominent presences in the world arena. I hope you can draw inspiration and strength from what they’ve achieved, as they were simply as confused about where they were heading as you are today, but you should also hold the faith that they are now what you will be in the foreseeable future. They are your examples.

Looking into the life ahead, you are encouraged to be confident and to waste no time adjusting and blending in. After years of training in XJTLU, you will find you are rewarded with clear advantages in English language skills, active learning and research-led exploration aptitudes, as opposed to peers from other universities in China who may lack these progressive capabilities, and at the same time, your secure foundational knowledge and diligence will also make you stand out among your international peers. All of these advantages will add to your competitiveness in your future career development, making you outshine others in the worldwide arena.

In XJTLU, nothing is either absolute or the best. We do not claim to be perfect. But you will secure here abundant resources, multi-cultural innovation experience, and more importantly, the passion to explore and to build your dream. All of this is actually already readily available around you, just waiting for you to discover and unfold…

My dear students, what are you still waiting for?

Thank you.

Professor Youmin Xi