Dear Mr. Li Hu, dear Mr. Tao Tao, dear students, dear parents, colleagues and distinguished guests,
Our two mascots Kiki and Juju, and I would like to greet you on behalf of the entire BiUH today. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to give this welcome speech for you all.
Our mascots, this is Juju, the male monkey, is telling you “BiUH loves You”. This is true, dear students. Our BiUH loves you. We are very happy that you have taken the decision to come to Hainan and enroll in our university. Thank you very much.
And of course, thank you very much, dear parents. You have taught your children well. You have surely influenced the decision of your daughter and son to study here. I am very thankful for this. You have sent your children a long way from your home. But, you can be sure your children are in good hands in their new home on our beautiful campus.
You may ask yourself. Who is this person speaking to us? Who is the president of BiUH? Well, my name is Jürgen Kretschmann. I am professor for Economics for Engineers. I have been a university president in Germany for 16 years before I have made the decision to do something new, something special, to become the founding president of our BiUH. I have been to China many times during the last 20 years. I like the Chinese food, the culture, and the friendliness of the Chinese people. That´s why I am here.
Dear students, I would like to tell you my guiding idea right at the beginning. Why am I so happy to be your president at BiUH? Because I believe, that engineering, digital technologies and computer sciences are crucial for a better future of our world. All engineering disciplines have an impact on the society and its members: companies, organizations, administrations, individuals.Because engineering leads to results that can change parts of the world forever.
My aim is to enable you to make the world a better place by teaching you to do so. You, your knowledge, your motivation will be the basis of technological progress at work, and far beyond.
Each of you has the potential to do better than me in the far future. But, the fundament is that we empower you to do so in the next 4 years.
It is clear, that mere teaching and learning from text books is not enough to successfully educate engineers or computer scientists. Crucial is the application of the knowledge in your working life later, in companies, administrations, organizations, where ever you will be. We will enable you to meet future challenges in practice. This is the aim of our work-integrated study programs that has been developed at our founding university, the Hochschule Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
Of course, a four years Bachelor program is a long way to go. But you don´t have to walk this way alone. Our professors, lecturers and staff members are your guides, supporters, advisors and mentors. Don´t hesitate to ask them questions inside or outside the classroom. They will be happy to answer them all, except the questions in your exam of course.
Dear students, many of you have come to our campus without knowing anybody. I am hoping that you already could have made friendships with some of your fellow students during the first days. Making friendships is one of the most important things while studying. Nobody should study alone. Studying is much easier and more fun in teams.
So, dear students, we expect something from you, too. Please contribute to the classes, ask questions, share experiences and observations, reflect implications and consequences, discuss with you fellow students. And last, but not least make friendships and enjoy your time being a student. Older people often highlight their years at the university have been the best years of their lives. And hopefully, one day you will say this, too.
Dear students, dear parents, dear guests,
Our BiUH is a very special university in China. It is an independent and intercultural university with staff members who have an international background from many different countries all around the world.
Our BiUH has a wonderful team. I am very proud of all my staff members. And I feel blessed to be their president. I can assure you our team will do everything to support our students. Your success, dear students, is our success. Nothing else.
Personally, I am leading BiUH on the basis of four core values:
Dear students, what will be the outcome of yourstudying at BiUH. Due to my passion for mathematics I would like to illustrate this outcome via a formula: a + 2h = c
a = I am (a valuable person, lovely, nice, competent, unique characteristic, individual, somebody special, human) +
2h= I have (knowledge, aims, competencies),
I have (friends, a team who will help, people who like me)=
c = I can (apply my knowledge, solve problems, bear burden, meet challenges, undertakeresponsibilities …).
Finally, our mascots and I would like to thank you everybody who has been so successfully engaged in this welcome ceremony.
Firstly, a big applause for president Prof.Schramm-Wölk from HSBI, the strategic leader of our BiUH. Without her our BiUH would not have been possible. I feel very honored she will greet us today with very kind words.
We are very thankful for the great support from the Education Working Committee and the Education Department of Hainan. It is a great honor, that the Director General of Hainan Provincial Department of Education is here with us today and has given an inspiring and motivation speech. Please give a big applause for Mr. Li Hu.
Another big applause deserves Mr. Tao Taorepresenting Danzhou Municipality Party Committee. Thank you very much for enriching our ceremony with your kind words. It is a pleasure to cooperate with you.
Dear guests, a ceremony like ours is not for free. That´s why we are happy we get support from good partners in industry. Thank you very much to the Lingshui branches of China Unicom, China Mobile and Bank of China for your generous support. We really appreciate it.
Thank you, my staff, especially Ms. Tan Ran and her team that has prepared our welcome ceremony for today. You did a great job.
Thank you dear management and staff members of the pilot zone. You have always been good company for us.
Last, but not least, thank you dear students and parents for being here today. You are making this day a wonderful day. And I really appreciate this.
Thank you all for your kind attention.
All the best for your future.
Be You!
