The College of Comparative Law held its Graduation of 2023 on Xuyuanlu Campus on the afternoon of 21 June, 2023.
All the college deans, the faculty in Beijing, some of the class 2020-2022 graduates, the whole of the class 2023 graduates and some of their parents attended the event. This graduation was the very first one that the College held on its own. The ceremony was moderated by the Associate Dean Prof. Liu Chengwei.
The ceremony began with the singing of the national anthem. After Liu Chengwei delivered his opening remarks, A/Prof. He Qihao, on behalf of all supervisors, sent his message to the graduates. Using ChatGPT-generated text as a starting point, He stressed that, in the midst of a crisis in which the legal profession is being replaced by artificial intelligence, lawyers should acknowledge technological realities and embrace change with optimism. He wished the students a bright future and a dream come true, and quoted the lyrics of "warm" in the 'Childe Goes North': "wish you good body, wish you meet a good person, and warm color floating life".
Afterwards, representatives of the graduates presented flowers to the faculty present to express their gratitude for the teachers' careful training.
After that, the class of 2023 valedictorian Liu Faxue and the class of 2020 valedictorian Xu Ningbo presented their speeches.
Liu attended the NYU for one year and obtained the New York State Bar. After graduation, she will work in a law firm in Hong Kong. She fondly recalled her study and life experience in the College, and sincerely thanked the College for its rich exchange opportunities, the hard work of the teachers and the encouragement and support of the students. She also gave her best wishes to the College, teachers and students.
Xu entered the College for a master's degree in 2017 and graduated in 2020 as a Shanghai Government-selected graduate. He expressed his sincere gratitude to the University and College for their efforts in cultivating him, shared his life experiences and insights from the perspectives of his studies, his work and his future outlook, and encouraged himself and the students "to maintain a true temperament, to always cherish a constant love and to pursue of a warm feeling" in the future.
Next, Chair of the College Council Wang Fang read out the Decision on Recognising the Outstanding Graduates of the Class of 2020-2023 to commend the excellent students of the class of 2020-2023 at the College, the University and the municipal level. She also called on all students to learn from them and strive to grow into an ideal, capable and responsible socialist builders and successors. Associate Dean A/Prof. Xie Libin presented the awards to the valedictorians.
Finally, Dean Prof. Xie Zhiyong delivered a speech. On behalf of the College, he congratulated the graduates and made an earnest request. He said that with the advent of digital civilization, he hoped that the graduates would be able to embrace the uncertainties and challenges bravely, be firm in their ideals of the rule of law, play a comparative legal person's unique advantages, and "seek the truth in comparison, see the pros and cons in comparison". He wished the students to aim high and strive for success.
The ceremony came to a successful conclusion. After that, all the teachers and students took a graduation photo together.
