2017 NTU Commencement: President Pan-Chyr Yang Urges Graduates to Think and Connect Globally

The 2017 Commencement of National Taiwan University (NTU) was held on the main campus on Sunday, June 4. In the drizzling morning, President Pan-Chyr Yang (楊泮池), Executive Vice Presidents, Profs. Ching-Ray Chang (張慶瑞), Tei-Wei Kuo (郭大維), Shu-Hsing Li (李書行), administrative executives, and college deans led the Class of 2017 in a procession to appreciate the beauty of NTU campus and receive warm goodbyes from students yet to graduate. Watch commencement streaming at NTU Homepage.

The theme of this year’s commencement ceremony is “Think and Connect Globally,” which encourages students to strive for Taiwan’s sustainable development and the welfare of all human beings. In his commencement address, President Yang highlighted “altruism” and “concern for the disadvantaged” as goals of education, and referred to “social responsibility” as the primary mission for all NTU members. He also urged students to insist on becoming an intellectual that puts social welfare before self-interest.

In the beginning of his address, President Yang congratulated the Class of 2017 for completing their study at NTU, and then shared a few words of encouragement. President Yang first stressed that people must keep up with the latest knowledge to adapt to the ever-evolving 21st century. Therefore, lifelong learning is essential to becoming outstanding and up-to-date intellectuals.

President Yang proceeded to say that people commonly equate science with knowledge in today’s digitized age. However, it takes humanities and virtue in addition to the “cognitive complex” to improve human society and civilization, and Max Weber’s concept of “value rationality” must be revived. Because of this, President Yang encouraged all graduates to become intellectuals recognized for both knowledge and virtue, science and humanities.

Next, President Yang emphasized the importance of dreams and passion. He expressed his dreams and passion for building a learning and research environment that enables students to accomplish their dreams and finally move upward through education. President Yang reminded graduates to remember the dreams and passion they share with friends at NTU, and never give up the possibility of a better future because of the obstacles ahead.

In addition to pursuing success, President Yang emphasized the importance of mental peace, firm beliefs, and self-expectation. He believed that people’s true value lies in their virtue and devotion to furthering their beliefs, ideals, and the overall human society.