On Tuesday, June 19th, 2018, Yenching Academy of Peking University held an End of Year Celebration for 2017 Cohort. Dean of Yenching Academy, Yuan Ming, Associate Dean Fan Shiming, Associate Dean David Moser, and Director of Graduate Studies Lu Yang attended the event.
Francisco Alberto Taiana (Argentina) from the third cohort hosted the event. The event began by taking a trip down memory lane with a slideshow of photos throughout the academic year, from registration to studying in the classroom to sports competitions to field trips, those incredible moments in the slideshow touched the hearts of everyone present.
After the slideshow, Francisco welcomed Minjoo Noh (South Korea) and Alexandre Gascoin (France), both from third cohort on stage and performed two songs for the attendees, the first song wasSpeak Softly Love, which is the theme song from the Godfather, the second wasI will See You in My Dreams.
After the beautiful performances, Dean Yuan gave a speech, she started her speech by reviewing the spirit of sharing, which Professor Lu Yang brought up at Yenching Academy 2017 Opening Ceremony. In the opening ceremony, professor Lu encouraged everyone to make contributions to the building of Yenching Academy in the spirit of sharing. Dean Yuan continued by saying we share today here at Yenching Academy, the slideshow of photos, we share the memories. Now many professors would also like to share and pass on their warmest regards to the scholars. In the messages the professors sent to Dean Yuan, they spoke highly about the initiative, foresight and leadership the Scholars showed in the class, which became the driving force for the courses and made teaching much more enjoyable. Dean Yuan also mentioned Yenching Salmon, the basketball team of Yenching Academy who won the championship in the PKU basketball competition and used their slogan: We must swim even when the tides are against us to encourage scholars to keep fighting and never give up.
Next, Francisco welcomed Professor Lu and Dean Moser to respectively present the prizes to the scholars who won the 2017-2018 Yenching Academy Award for Outstanding Academic Performance and the 2017-2018 Yenching Academy Award for Outstanding Contribution.
Dean Moser delivered the closing remarks after the prize presentation, he congratulated the Scholars on their achievements and expressed his wishes for the scholars to cooperate in order to better understand each other, to better understand China as China Watchers. In the end, he said whichever career path the scholars will choose in the future, they will have Yenching Acedemy’s continuous support, the door of Yenching Academy will always be open to Yenching Scholars.
Lastly, winners of the PKU Top 10 Singing Competition, Ellan Alethia Lincoln-Hyde (Australia) and Alexandre Nicolas Gascoin (France) performed a song called Summertime, the lyrics describe the strength one draws from loved ones as the individual moves on to new chapters in life, which highlighted the sentiment of the occasion. After their performance, Ravish Bhatia (India), Ilse Andrea Zambrano Fajardo (Mexico), Valeryia Liseichykava (Belarus), Liu Xinyu (China), Anastasiia Matros (Russia) and Theresa Stubhan (Germany) performed a swing dance which brought the event to a successful end.
Winners of the 2017-2018 Yenching Academy Award for Outstanding Academic Performance : Miles Graham, Daniel de Oliveira Vasconcelos, Yang Zhongshu, Erin Dunne, Jenny Ng, Nazerke Aibar, Emily Marie Finkelstine, Xie Changming, Jacob Gladysz, Eugene Fu, Sonya Ruth Cotton, Maurice Ludwig Gajan.
Winners of the 2017-2018 Yenching Academy Award for Outstanding Contribution: Aliza Warwick, Li Mengran, Zhang Cheng, Jennifer Jia-Hong Liu, Carl Stanley Hooks, Xie Changming, Nazerke Aibar, Ellan Alethia Lincoln-Hyde, Miles Graham, Julia Eugenie Saubier.
