This year’s Flag Presentation Ceremony was held on June 20 at the Student Activity Center, Tamsui Campus. It is an annual event in which Tamkang says goodbye to students who will soon go abroad for a year of student exchange.

The ceremony was attended by exchange students and by the 28 Tamkang students selected to represent Taiwan overseas as International Youth Ambassadors. These 28 youth ambassadors have been divided into four groups, each of which will visit a separate country and volunteer to help local youths. The ceremony was hosted by the President of TKU, Dr. Flora Chia-I Chang and featured speeches from a number of dignitaries and diplomats, such as the Director of the Bureau of International and Educational Relations (Ministry of Education), Mr. Robin Lu; the Director of the Department of North American Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Mr. Chang Wei-chung; the Deputy Director General of the German Institute in Taipei, Mirko Kruppa; and Mme Valentine Gigaudaut of the French Institute in Taipei.

This year, a total of 432 students will take part in overseas exchange. They will study at 57 TKU sister universities and eight non-sister universities from a total of 17 countries. At the same time, over 70 students from universities around the world will soon arrive at Tamkang for a year of student exchange. They will join the 1,000 plus international and Mainland Chinese degree-seeking students currently at TKU.

During the opening speech, President Chang expressed her hope that all students at TKU may one day have the chance to go overseas and take part in student exchange. She said that student exchange allows students to personally experience the language, culture, and lifestyle of people in other countries, which helps to nurture in students a truly international perspective.