April 19, 2008. Shanghai campus. - With a switch of their tassels from right to left, 158 members of the CEIBS MBA Intake Class of 2006 were transformed from CEIBS students to CEIBS alumni.
Today’s graduation ceremony, the 11th for the CEIBS MBA programme, provided an opportunity for members of MBA2006 to look back at the highs and lows of the past 18 months and get valuable advice from school officials and keynote speaker Mr. Andrew Wu, the LVMH group director for China.
CEIBS MBA2006 graduates celebrate.
In his opening speech, CEIBS Executive President Professor Pedro Nueno congratulated the new graduates on their accomplishments and urged them to apply the skills and knowledge they had learned at CEIBS to their careers.
CEIBS President Professor Zhu Xiaoming also offered his congratulations and encouraged the MBA 2006 Class to cherish the CEIBS name. He pressed them to remember and strive for the school’s motto - Conscientiousness, Innovation and Excellence. “The future of our graduates is the hope of CEIBS, and the achievements of our students are the accomplishments of CEIBS,” said Prof. Zhu.
The members of the MBA 2006 Class are no strangers to accomplishments, as pointed out during the graduation ceremony by Associate Dean and MBA Academic Director Professor Lydia Price. The group had been more active than previous classes in both academic and social activities, she said, adding that student activities had helped forged closer connections between CEIBS and the wider community. Prof. Price pointed to the success of MBA 2006’s “Shanghai Night” which not only attracted students from a number of Shanghai’s MBA schools but has also evolved into an annual event. MBA 2006 was also the driving force behind the “Green Campus” initiative that has made energy saving and environmental protection an integral part of CEIBS life.
The MBA2006 Graduation Day Ceremony took place in the school's auditorium.
During his address, LVMH Group Director Andrew Wu focused on “Leadership Responsibility of a New Generation” and encouraged graduates to shoulder more social responsibility and contribute to China’s rejuvenation. “If it is said that in the past 30 years China followed the changes of the world, then everyone present will be the mainstay of this era. The world will follow the changes of China in the next 30 years,” Mr. Wu said.
As the representatives of the graduating class, Ena Marie Hewitt and Bai Xiaojun painted a picture of their 18 months of campus life. For them, it was a period of growing up, shaped by the thrill of meeting goals as well as the bitter taste when they fell short, the kindness and support of classmates, the building and strengthening of friendships.
Ena Marie Hewitt, who is from South Africa, was among the nine outstanding students who were presented with special awards by Professors Nueno and Zhu. The others were:
- Jurn Terpstra (the Netherlands)
- Arjan Petten (the Netherlands)
- Sheridan Ware (Australia)
- Karl Leung (Philippines)
- Katrina Lv (China)
- Richard Zhu (China)
- Vicky Song (China) and
- Cristina Castillo (Spain).
Nine outstanding students of the MBA2006 graduating class were recognised for their accomplishments.
The MBA Class of 2006 also presented gifts to Professors Nueno and Zhu.
CEIBS Vice President Professor Zhang Weijiong was the master of ceremony for the historic switching of the tassel that hangs from the tops of the graduation caps. “The tassel switching does not only mean the accomplishment of study, but also signifies the new start of personal career path, and also represents the social responsibility everyone shoulders,” he said.
The members of the MBA Class of 2006 held on to the last moments of CEIBS life late into the evening, reluctant to leave the cocktail reception that marked the close of Graduation Day. With former classmates, professors and family members they relived their memorable moments at CEIBS; but the night finally ended, bringing down the curtain on one chapter of their lives while raising it for another.
