In the best of autumn, with everything fresh and promising, ZWU held a grand opening ceremony for the 2024 freshmen on the morning of September 20. A total of 6,374 undergraduate students and 288 graduate students gathered at Wanli, filled with hopes and expectations, embarking on a new journey to pursue their dreams and continue writing their youthful chapters.
The ceremony was attended by President Lin Zhihua, Party Secretary Wang Weizhong, Discipline Inspection Secretary Sun Bin, Vice Presidents Chen Jiange and Yang Zhenfeng, Deputy Party Secretary Zhu Bangxiang, Assistant to the President Ge Chutian, deans of various colleges, and 500 student representatives at the main venue in the Quality Development Center of the Huilong Campus. Other freshmen participated at sub-venues in the Qianhu and Huilong campuses, while many alumni and parents watched the ceremony via live stream. The ceremony was hosted by Vice President and Deputy Party Secretary Ma Jianrong.
Before the ceremony began, teachers and students watched a promotional video and a warm-up video titled “The Journey of Wanli”, which highlighted the university’s development history and achievements, as well as a review of campus life over the past two weeks.
At 8:30 AM, the opening ceremony officially commenced with the majestic sound of the national anthem.
In his speech titled “No Regrets in Choice; A Promising Future Awaits”, Lin Zhihua warmly welcomed the students and expressed heartfelt congratulations on their arrival. He paid high tribute to the family and teachers who have nurtured them and extended birthday wishes to the 24 students celebrating their birthdays that day, noting that they have become the “new masters” of Huilong campus and Qianhu campus, adding youthful vitality and vigorous momentum to the 74-year-old university.
“This is a university that has always worked hard in the past, is working harder than you at this moment, and will work even harder in the future”, shared Lin Zhihua. He emphasized that the university has consistently persevered through historical challenges, upheld its educational mission, and practiced the path of nurturing talents. The university is steadily advancing towards its goal of becoming a “domestically first-class, internationally renowned high-level application-oriented university”.
Lin Zhihua encouraged all freshmen, who will witness the new chapter of ZWU being upgraded to a full university and becoming a doctoral degree-granting institution, and outlined three key points:
Establishing a Spirit of Struggle and Becoming Independent Individuals: Students should love their country, uphold virtue, practice self-discipline and self-respect, inherit the spirit of self-love and self-improvement, and be self-aware and confident. They should not waste their university time and strive to achieve their best selves through dedication to their country and career.
Pursuing Knowledge and Becoming Explorers: Students should persist in “reading thousands of good books” to understand written knowledge and have the courage to explore unwritten wisdom. They should be “thinkers” who learn broadly and “doers” who practice knowledge and action in unity.
Learning the Methods of Success and Becoming Outstanding Individuals: They should draw on the strengths of others to enhance their own abilities and strive for excellence to create first-class achievements. With a solid foundation, they should aim to shine brightly, maintain their fighting spirit, and move forward steadily, writing their own life answers.
With the school emblem as proof and the school motto as the soul, all freshmen wear the school emblems together, marking them as “Wanli people” from this moment on. They take up the baton of dreams and will carry the Wanli spirit of “So long as there is a glimmer of hope, we must give our utmost effort”, continuing to pursue the mission and dreams of a “Wanli person”.
Professor Wang Honglin from the College of Foreign Languages, representing the faculty, encouraged the new students with the keywords “dream chasing”, “passion”, and “integration”. She hopes that all new students will bravely pursue their dreams, joyfully embark on a new journey with passion, and embrace the world with an open mind and an international perspective, starting from “Wanli” to connect with the world and embrace the future, gaining knowledge, insights, and achievements.
Ying Keyan, a student representative from 2022 journalism, shared her feelings with all freshmen, summarizing her thoughts in one word: “opportunity”. She emphasized the importance of learning to seek, seize, and cherish opportunities at Wanli, rooting themselves in the fertile soil of ideals, and writing their own brilliance on the vast stage of Wanli.
Freshman representative Zhang Chengwei from the School of Business and new graduate student Ruan Di from the Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences shared their aspirations and reflections on university life. They collectively stated that the school motto “Self-improvement and Perseverance” is a declaration that every Wanli student proves through action. As new-era Wanli people, they will embrace the motherland and look to the world, integrating personal efforts into the great tide of national rejuvenation, allowing their youth to shine brightly alongside the progress of the country.
The opening ceremony concluded successfully with all faculty and students singing the anthem of ZWU, “Leave a Brilliant Piece to Heaven and Earth”.
After the ceremony, Lin Zhihua delivered the “President’s First Lesson” at the Quality Development Center of the Huilong Campus. Titled “Wanli New Youth: Confidence, Independence, and Strength”, he shared the school’s history, current status, achievements, and future development goals with the freshmen. He encouraged them to gain a deeper understanding of the school and to integrate into Wanli more quickly and effectively. He also shared stories of alumni and senior students’ struggles, hoping that the freshmen would learn from these role models and build their confidence to draw strength from their efforts. Finally, he urged all new students to prepare comprehensively to better welcome and start their university life. He hopes that in the future, everyone will demonstrate a youthful spirit of having ideals, taking responsibility, being hardworking, and striving, showcasing a pragmatic and innovative approach, rooting downwards while growing upwards, and painting a blueprint for youth that emphasizes learning from others, striving for excellence, and achieving long-term success, becoming confident, independent, and strong “New” Wanli youth.
At noon, Lin Zhihua had lunch with the student representatives, caring about their lives over the past two weeks and looking forward to their future studies.
At 14:00 in the afternoon, Wang Weizhong delivered the “Pary Secretary’s First Lecture” titled “Patriotic Struggle, National Aspirations—Becoming a Good Youth in the New Era” at the Quality Development Center of the Huilong Campus. He pointed out that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has set forth the mission and tasks for the new era and new journey, issuing a mobilization order for the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country and the comprehensive promotion of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee made systematic strategic deployments for further deepening reforms and advancing Chinese-style modernization, emphasizing the need to coordinate the reform of education, science and technology, and talent systems and mechanisms.
Wang emphasized that the youth of the new era are at a crucial moment and have great potential. They should possess a broad vision, a grand perspective, and a deep sense of responsibility. He earnestly urged all new students to become the vanguard force in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, to be idealistic, responsible, hardworking, and willing to strive as “Wanli good youth”, contributing to the realization of the Chinese Dream and making their own contributions to the development of the school.
As the summer clouds disperse and the new autumn shines brightly, he wishes all students to strive for the best version of themselves in this great era, and for the most beautiful dreams.