Time flies! After three years of study at the China-EU School of Law at the China University of Political Science and Law, the graduation ceremony finally took place. Prof. Liu Fei, the Chinese Co-Dean CESL, Monty Silley, European Executive Co-Dean, other professors, parents and all the 2019 graduates of the school attended the ceremony on the morning of June 17, in classroom 305 of the Mingfa Building on the Changping Campus.
Before the official start of the ceremony, all the 2019 graduates of the China-EU School of Law took a group photo in front of the Fayuan Pavilion to commemorate the occasion.
At 9 am, everyone watched a video produced by the double master's graduate Yu Yu and shared in the warm memories that appeared.
The ceremony was officially started bilingually in both Chinese and English by the ceremony’s host, Assistant Professor Monika Prusinowska of the China-EU School of Law.
At the beginning of the ceremony, with a warm applause, the faculty representatives took the stage to deliver best wishes for the graduates.
First of all, Professor Xu Jiusheng expressed his greetings to the students, congratulating them for their hard work and accomplishment. Prof. Xu spoke of his own experience of going from a public institution to the university. He wished all the graduates a bright future!
Next, Professor Feng Xiaoqing spoke. On the one hand, he hoped that the students would be able to grow into fully-qualified legal representatives. In the future, when engaging in legal practice, they will be entrusted by others and must be loyal to the people, with a strong sense of justice and responsibility, and always maintain legal dignity. On the other hand, Prof. Feng expects that after graduation, they will not stop learning, but regard learning as a kind of enjoyment and normality, keeping the spirit of advancing with the times, strengthening the spirit of innovation, developing their professional experience, and each achieving great progress.
Immediately afterwards, Professor Zheng Yongliu took the stage to deliver a speech and received an enthusiastic applause from the students. Prof. Zheng gave some joyful suggestions to everyone in his cordial tone. He borrowed a phrase by the British writer Janet Winterson, "The orange is not the only fruit," telling graduates that people's lives are rich and colorful. CESL is just one stop in life, for three years of hard work learning and receiving two degrees. He is happy for them and that they are moving to a new stage. At the same time, Prof. Zheng talked about the interesting things from his student days. He encouraged the students to engage in critical thinking, to remember how they learned to challenge and challenge their teachers academically, have their own thoughts, find the truth, and become well-rounded persons in society. That is the real goal of a university education. Finally, Prof. Zheng sent a last message and blessed the students: CESL is just the starting point of their lives. In their future, there will be all kinds of fruits outside of CESL, everyone must go and taste them!
After listening to the professor’s speeches, the students gave a strong applause expressing their sincere praise and respect for the academic guidance they received over the past years.
Mr. Le Peng, as the student representative for the 2019 double master graduates, gave a speech. He recalled that three years ago, they gave up their former careers and came to this new environment of CESL, where they not only gained the knowledge and learned legal thinking, but also overcame the challenges of understanding EU law and met many new friends. He himself found the most important person in his life and will spend a lifetime with her. Every bit of this experience has enriched his life and will remain in his memory forever. He encouraged graduates to leave their comfort zones. Even if it is difficult, it is worth pursuing challenges in life. By continuously trying to improve from the past, each student will be successful.
After that, the Chinese graduate representative of the Master of European and International Law (MEIL) programme, Ms. Wang Pei, spoke about the rich environment and personal growth at the China-EU School of Law. She recalled her own tension, going from her initial application to CESL, to studying completely in English. The high-intensity learning, the help of study groups, the participation in moot court, and the elective courses at Lund University in Sweden, experiencing the comparatively peaceful and quiet Nordic life, and absorbing the thinking of different professors, all form vivid scenes in her mind. The graduates present all felt the same way. Finally, she gave her heartfelt thanks to the China-EU School of Law. She showed gratitude to every professor and tutor, and wished the graduates a happy graduation and a happy future.
Then, Anne Kristin Berlips, the international graduate representative of the MEIL programme, took the stage to speak. This is not the first time she has come to China. But the past year of studying here has satisfied her desire for a blend of an international environment, language and culture. At CESL, Chinese students and other international students have learned and grown together. She also talked about a few interesting differences, what impressed her the most was the hard work of Chinese students, getting up two hours earlier and taking short naps on the table, which is hard to believe in Germany. She mentioned that although many people think that the world is becoming more protectionist, more closed and more nationalistic, her time in CESL proves that this is exactly the opposite. Cultural differences should stimulate curiosity, not fear. She talked about the care and help of her classmates and professors. In the end, she gave blessings to the graduates in Chinese, wishing everyone a bright future and good achievements in the future. The lovely and fluent Chinese pronunciation won a special applause.
After listening to the speeches of the students and other professors, Monty Silley, European Executive Co-Dean of CESL, shared his feelings in a passionate speech. He first congratulated all 127 master’s, including 108 double master’s students, who graduated today. He fully affirmed the good academic qualities of the China-EU School of Law and the achievements in close education exchanges between China and Europe. He acknowledged it was the end of the graduate’s studies at CESL, but that this was only one stop in the journey of their life. He said that we all must continue learning for life. To inspire everyone, Prof. Silley cited the Chinese poet Yuan Mei in saying "Learning is the bow, while competence is the arrow". The intense study at CESL has given graduates a strong bow for the future, which they should use to pursue fairness and justice, improve themselves but also help others, and benefit the society. They must continually learn and improve their competence. In the future, they must not only become good lawyers, but also be good people. In this way, he hopes that they continue to shoot towards their goals, grow as people, and create a wonderful future.
Finally, Professor Liu Fei, the Chinese Co-Dean of the CESL, delivered a speech. First of all, Prof. Liu congratulated everyone on their graduation and opening a new chapter in their lives. He couldn’t help but feel that "your success, is our success". Then, he recalled the scene of the opening ceremony on September 4th three years ago. He talked about the diverse student background of the China-EU School of Law and hoped to create a diverse learning environment for everyone as well. He told how he was very concerned about the learning situation of each student. He mentioned the collective and individual awards of the students in the moot court and the CIETC Cup. He reviewed the wonderful performances of the students at the Games and the New Year's party, and felt sincerely proud for the students' achievements. With some humour he congratulates CESL, which won the first place for law, and the graduates all laughed.
Then, in conjunction with Anna’s speech, Prof. Liu shared his study abroad experience in Germany. He suggested that Chinese and European students should learn to jump out of their own limitations, learn more about the international environment, use the international vision of CESL and a good level of legal English to build core competitiveness. He also used the unique analysis of events as an example to encourage everyone not to forget the positioning of their foreign-related legal knowledge, to keep pace with the times, and improve their ability to handle foreign-related legal affairs independently. Finally, Prof. Liu spoke about the employment orientation of graduates, encouraged everyone to continue to maintain independent thinking and rational judgment, strengthen the belief in the rule of law, and not forget their responsibilities and to do good work.
Coming to an end, the 2019 graduates, dressed in full regalia, each came to the stage. The Co-Deans Liu Fei and Monty Silley awarded diplomas to the graduates and took photos.
After the ceremony, all graduates and professors signed a commemorative board and took even more pictures. With everyone’s reluctance, the 2019 graduation ceremony of the China-EU School of Law came to a successful conclusion. We sincerely wish all graduates of the China-EU School of Law adhere to lifelong learning, that they continue to advance with the times, they remember the responsibility they now have, and become outstanding people.
Original Chinese Text: Qin Mengyuan (CESL double master student)
