On Saturday June 2nd, Commencement was held at the TKU Lanyang Campus. This year, 170 students from 5 departments graduated in a lively ceremony that was conducted entirely in English.

Before the start of the ceremony, the Provost of Lanyang Campus, Dr. Lin Jyh-horng, along with the dean and department chairs led students through the campus on the ritual campus “lap of honor”. Together, they took in the sights and scenes that they had called home for the past four years. They walked up to a campus lookout point for a bird’s eye view of the Lanyang Flatlands below and Turtle Island in the distance. They then went down the 132-step “Slope of Overcoming Difficulty”, which symbolizes the Tamkang spirit of “Simplicity, Truthfulness, Firmness, and Perseverance”.

The theme of this year’s Commencement ceremony was “Tamkang’s Three Circles and Five Disciplines of Education, Allowing Alumni to Reach for the Sky”. It was attended by the President of TKU, Dr. Flora Chia-I Chang, the Republic of Marshall Islands’ Ambassador to Taiwan, Philip Kabua, and the Secretary-general of the Yilan County Government, Chen Shin-yi.

During her opening speech, TKU President Flora Chang congratulated the graduating students on achieving this valuable milestone. She encouraged them to go out into the community, both locally and internationally, and apply their skills and know-how to contribute and make a difference.

To follow was an award presentation ceremony that was every bit as suspenseful and exciting as the Oscars. There was an Academic ward, an International Award, a Leaders Award, and an Overall Exceptional Student Award. Out of the numerous nominees, a handful of recipients were chosen. They included the recipient of the Academic Award, Chiu Wei-chi (Department of International Tourism Management); winners of the International Award – which is based on students’ scores in English proficiency tests and grades achieved while studying overseas – Ke Nai-chen and Wang Shi-yu (Department of Multicultural and Linguistic Studies); winners of the Leaders Awards, Chiu Hsin-yi (Department of Innovative Information and Technology) and Chuang Chia-lun (Department of Information and Communication Technology Management); and the recipient of the Overall Exceptional Student Award, Shih Chen-hsuan (Department of Innovative Information and Technology).

The ceremony then took on a more touching note. Graduation certificates were handed out as a video was played showing the graduating students when they had just entered the Lanyang Campus four years earlier. Watching the videos, students and their families got to see just how much the students had grown over the last several years.

The ceremony drew to an energy-filled close with balloons, glow-sticks, and a breathtaking view of Yilan County.

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Tamscar Fever Sweeps Tamkang

On 5th June, the Student Activity Center, Tamsui Campus, was home to a special kind of graduation party. With the theme “Tamscar”, the graduation party combined the glitz and glamour of the Oscars (“Scar”) with the entertaining talent of graduating Tamkang students (“Tam”). It is an annual event to farewell Tamkang’s international students, in which foreign students – both degree-seeking and exchange – gather to perform, celebrate, and reminisce. This year’s party drew over 200 participants, including the President of TKU, Dr. Flora Chia-I Chang, the Vice President for International Affairs, Dr. Wan-chin Tai, and the Dean of International Affairs, Dr. Pei Wha Chi Lee. While handing out certificates to Tamkang’s foreign exchange students, President Chang noted that this year is the first time Mainland students have taken part in the celebrations. She said she hopes, in the future, that TKU’s graduating students may regularly come back and share their experiences with Tamkang students.

This year’s graduation party featured a hot dance performance by the Volunteers of International Students (VOIS), a keynote singing performance by third year Tamkang student and well-known singing sensation, Marcus Bo, as well as speeches by Damien Some, Yoshiko Nakashima and Tang Mao. Yoshiko, during her speech, used the local Taiwanese dialect to say “I love Taiwan!”