The Yenching Academy Welcomes Back Alumni

On Friday, November 3rd, the Yenching Academy of Peking University welcomed back several alumni from the first cohort of scholars. The small gathering celebrated the past achievements of Yenching Scholars, and discussed expectations for the future of the Academy.

Setting the tone for the event, the Yenching Trio, with members from both the second and third cohort played the song “Everybody wants to be a cat” to welcome everyone. After the performance, the alumni, including Héctor Zavala Guzmán (Mexico), Yulia Leonovich (Russia), Wadeisor Rukato (Zimbabwe) and Magdalena Gonzalez (Chile and France), talked about the highlights of their time in Beijing and talked about what made the program unique.

Also in attendance were members of the second and third cohort, including several members of the newly elected 2017-2018 YCA Graduate Student Union. For these scholars, hearing about the past experiences and current work of former Yenching Scholars was inspiration to take on similar projects as part of their experience at the Yencing Academy and Peking University. After the more formal part of the event was over, scholar from the three cohorts and staff mingled, and continued their discussion of the future vision of YCA.

Overall, the gathering was an opportunity for scholars from the first, second, and third cohorts to reflect on their experiences at the Yenching Academy with the office staff members who had supported their studies, and with Dean Moser who recently joined the Yenching Academy.

Reported by: Erin Dunne (2017 Yenching Scholar, PR Director of 2017/18 GSU)