To begin with, I congratulate on your successful climbing up the Overcoming Difficulty Slope to Tamkang University in the welcoming notes of cicadas. Your participation fill our school with new energy and hope. I feel blessed and moved, and expect you to treasure this rare chance of learning, and have a resourceful four years.

For the past 58 years, TKU has developed industriously in promoting educational quality, academic researches and learning services. To keep track on the recent trends, our school has utilized limited resources to created endless possibilities. The extent of our campus has extend from the Five-tiger Hill in the Northwest to Linmei Mt. in the Northeast. The charming sunset of Tamsui has been linked with the gorgeous sunrise of Kueishan isle, and a beautiful rainbow arch between the two campuses. Three years ago, in the educational evaluation by MOE, TKU won best grades in ten items; last year, in the surveys by Common Wealth and Cheer magazines, TKU was ranked the enterprises’ favorite private university—TKU has already kept this honor for ten years, which is a honor and pride of our alumni. We has the confidence to say “Tamkang is your best choice!” and “Tamkang is the guarantee for success!” Though a university is not a vocational training center, the recognition from society and enterprises has acknowledged the results or our educational ideas and practices. As a president, I have always been thinking: What are the criteria of a high-quality university? What we can make students learn from our school?

The high-quality culture of a university is not established in a short period; it needs continuous efforts in short-, medium-, and long-term targets. A distinguished university have to contain her unique characters and competitiveness as well as cooperate with her sister schools. The whole ideal is to build a house for higher education. In the conception of our “quality management house,” we uphold as our mission to “Carry on the heritage and pave the way for the future, establish a new culture for society and nurture talents with great souls.” Our educational values lie in searching for excellence with a soul by a pursuit of values of simplicity, truthfulness, firmness, perseverance, and in fulfillment in all five aspects of education (morality, knowledge, physical fitness, cooperativeness and beauty), and three dimensions in curriculum (professional, core and extracurricular).

In former President of Harvard University Dr. Derek Bok’s book, Our Underachieving Colleges, Dr. Bok proclaims 8 educational aims for the 21st century: 1. ability of expression, 2. ability of independent thinking, 3. ability of moral judgment, 4. ability to fulfill citizenship, 5. ability to absorb multi-cultural life, 6. ability to adopt to global society, 7. broad interests, and 8. professional skills. These ideas testify our educational values in five aspects of education and three dimensions in curriculum. And these ideas are the eight lessons that a contemporary college student must learn.

University is not only a treasure hub of knowledge but also a temple of cultures. TKU has been praised for her five-star class digital library and gymnasium and other physical educational facilities. I wish everyone of you to enjoy in this open and multiple learning environment, and get acquainted with the eight necessary lessons by actively developing your specialized skills, strengthening moral integrity, absorbing digital information, nurturing global world view and futurist vision. Four years later, I expect to see you happily walk down the Five-tiger Hill with fruitful achievement and confidence. Your excellent performance will be the pride of your alma mater and your own wonderful memory. ( ~Chen Chi-szu )