2020 Hopkins-Nanjing Center Commencement
June 12, 2020
On June 12, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC) held its 34th Commencement Ceremony to celebrate the hard work and resilience of the Class of 2020. Though the HNC has been privileged to host many graduations over the past three decades, this year was its first virtual ceremony, emerging from the travel and social restrictions in place due to the current global health crisis. The ceremony was led by HNC Co-Directors, Adam Webb and Chen Yunsong, who in addition to recognizing every member of the graduating Class of 2020 by name, also gave special recognition to both Chinese and International recipients of this year's Outstanding Master's Thesis Award. This award is given to a select number of graduates who distinguished themselves with their excellent writing and original research in completion of their master's thesis, written in their target language.
It was an immense honor to have two HNC alumni, Andrew Meador (HNC '18) and Wang Qilong (HNC '17), share their experiences and encouragement with graduating students as commencement speakers; both of whom served on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York City and Wuhan, respectively. Andrew and Qilong were an inspiration to all in attendance and wonderful examples of the HNC’s distinguished and supportive alumni network. The HNC also welcomed two exemplary graduating students, Cheryl Wirehene and Liu Yan. Both gave empowering speeches in their target languages on the lasting friendships formed at the HNC and the tools now in hand to address the many challenges the world is facing.
Despite the uncharted territory of this year’s commencement ceremony, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center community, spread far and wide across the globe, came together to host a celebratory and meaningful virtual graduation ceremony for a resilient Class of 2020.