Source: Publicity Department, Office of the President, Office of Student Affairs, SYSU CYL Committee
Written by: Jiang Jing, Peng Changlan
Photo by: Li Jinfeng, Zhong Haolun
Proofread by: Ian Heuer
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On August 30, the Opening Ceremony 2018 of Sun Yat-sen University was held on Zhuhai Campus, Guangzhou East Campus, Guangzhou South Campus and Guangzhou North Campus. The opening ceremony was attended by new students. Attendees included the university leaders Chen Chunsheng, Luo Jun, Li Mengfeng, Li Shanmin, Yu Minbin, Yang Qinghua, and Wang Xuehua; members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Gao Rui and Ji Liangnian; member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Lin Haoran; and the leaders of schools, departments and affiliated hospitals. President Luo Jun delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He pointed out that SYSU has five campuses in three cities. Guangzhou South Campus has strengths in humanities and natural sciences, and he hoped the students will inherit and carry forward the fine traditions; Guangzhou North Campus is leading in medical sciences, and he hoped the students will strive to become outstanding talents in health and medical causes; Guangzhou East Campus has mainly engineering disciplines with some schools and departments of social sciences, and he hoped the students will offer Chinese solutions to scientific, technological and social development challenges; Zhuhai Campus focuses on developing discipline clusters of deep sea, deep sky and deep earth to serve the “Belt and Road” Initiative, and he hoped the students will remember their connections with national strategies in their studies; Shenzhen Campus has the characteristics of medical sciences and new engineering disciplines, and he hoped that the Campus’s new students who are currently studying on Guangzhou East Campus will work hard and pursue further studies.
President Luo Jun put forward three requirements to the new students. First, the students should shoulder the responsibility of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and become eligible builders and reliable successors for the socialist cause. Second, the students should strive hard and pursue excellence, set higher goals and become social leaders and pillars of the country. Third, the students should be down-to-earth and diligent, follow the university motto, be patriotic, motivated, seek truth and take action. On behalf of the continuing students, Zhang Luqi, Wang Xu, Wang Sheng and Zhong Lanlan gave speeches, sharing their own experiences of studying at SYSU, and encouraging the new students to cherish the time and realize their dreams. On behalf of the new students, Pi Chenyuan, Yue Yiran, Yao Zheng and Wen Yun gave speeches, expressing their determination to become SYSU students who have both ability and moral integrity, able to cultivate charisma and eager to serve their country.
Led by Vice President Wang Xuehua, the new students took the solemn oath, expressing that they will remember the university motto, shoulder the mission of the times, advocate science and reason, study diligently, seek truth and innovate. Led by Deputy Secretary Yu Minbin, the new medical students took the solemn oath, expressing that they will volunteer themselves to medicine, abide by the medical ethics, strive diligently for the perfection of technology, and devote themselves to the medical cause.
At the end of the ceremony, all teachers and students sang the university anthem together.
After the ceremony, Director of the Office of Student Affairs Zhong Yibiao and Deputy Secretary of the SYSU CYL Committee Ma Minghui gave the first lectures on “studying at SYSU and pursuing excellence” to the new students. They encouraged the new students to set academic goals, explore academic frontiers, realize innovation, abide by codes of conduct, and strive to become outstanding SYSU students.