On September 14th, the Beijing-Dublin International College at BJUT (BDIC) held the Opening Ceremony of Incoming Class of 2022. The ceremony was attended by Ann Derwin, Irish Ambassador to China, Nie Zuoren, President of BJUT, Liu Jianping, Vice President, Wu Wenying, Principal of BDIC, and heads of relevant departments. Mark Rogers, Acting President of the University College Dublin (UCD), and Paul Fanning, BDIC's Provost, participated in the ceremony online.
Ambassador Ann Derwin said that she felt honored to attend BDIC's 2022 Opening Ceremony as this year marks the 10th anniversary of BDIC and represents a hallmark of BDIC's development. She also introduced Ireland's development in the education sector and the country's strengths in ICTs, financial services, life sciences, etc. The ambassador expressed her sincere wish that all BDIC students success in their future studies and careers and encouraged them to play their part in the economic, educational, cultural and people-to-people ties between Ireland and China.
President Nie Zuoren extended a warm welcome to Ambassador Ann Derwin and congratulated the more than 300 new BDIC students on becoming part of the BJUT family. As he pointed out, over the past ten years, the College has achieved stunning outcomes and was an ideal place where students could grow into talented global citizens. He hence encouraged the students, whatever hardships or changes that may come their way, to always move forward with focus and determination, contributing their share to the friendly ties between China and Ireland. As Chinese young people in the new era, they should also make their voices heard to help the world better understand China.
Prof. Mark Rogers extended congratulations to this year's freshmen in his speech. Also, he invited the students, at a given time in the future, to visit the UCD in Ireland to experience the vibrant, immersive campus culture there.
Principal Wu Wenying, Prof. Henry McLoughlin, and Wang Xuefei, representative of the College's faculty team, also delivered speeches to welcome the newly enrolled students. Provost Paul Fanning and Prof. Henry McLoughlin conferred signature scarves to the students in both in-person and remote manners.
Besides insightful and powerful words, the ceremony was also featured with wonderful performances of both Chinese and Irish cultural elements, including Chinese folk music, tap dance and reading of excerpts from James Joyce's Dubliners, receiving prolonged and thunderous applauses from the viewers. These performances fully demonstrated BDIC's role as a bridge of friendship and cultural exchanges between China and Ireland.
