Sias International University held its 16th Homecoming across the campus on May 26. A wide range of Chinese and foreign guests, leaders of Sias departments and schools, Sias alumni, students, and their parents, shared in the annual event together. A series of events including a Homecoming parade and celebratory performance, Marching Band performance, international education exhibition, architectural design exhibition, alumni summit, and Birdman competition, showed the development, internationalization, and rich campus culture of Sias.
The Homecoming Parade began at 8 a.m., with floats, costumes, and performances put together by students, student associations, and foreign faculty members. The parade, which went down the main road of the campus, showed a wide range of interests, cultures, designs, and creativity among those who took part. A frequent theme showed the meeting of Chinese and Western cultures.
After the parade, and marching band performance, the annual Homecoming Celebration took place in the Opera Theater. A large number of special guests, both domestic and international, along with the Sias leadership, alumni, parents, teachers, and students, attended the celebratory performances. Sias President, Dr. Chen Sikun, presided over the ceremony.
After the playing of the Chinese and American national anthems, the Chairman of the Board of Sias, Dr. Shawn Chen, introduced and welcomed the chief guests. He said that Homecoming was one of Sias' traditions that brought together students and parents from all walks of life. It was a time of reflection and looking forward to the future, and also demonstrated the developmental progress made by Sias. The coming year, he said, was going to be Sias' 20th anniversary. He spoke of how he had always had a dream of running a university with Chinese and Western elements that implemented international education while producing high-quality graduates. He said that the expectations for the innovation and development of Sias will only grow in the future.
The President of California Baptist University (CBU), Dr. Ronald Ellis, delivered a speech and said that the cooperative relationship between CBU and Sias that was built 10 years ago to develop international cooperative education programs had promoted the development of both universities. He said that he was amazed at the rapid development of Sias over the past 10 years and hoped that Sias and CBU would develop more cooperative projects together in the future.
The representative of the 5th Henan Universities' New Media Forum, Li Zhan, who is also the Executive Director of the campus micro-blog Henan Channel City thanked Sias for its support of the Henan Universities' New Media Forum and said that after 5 years, the forum had become a popular and attractive event for students across Henan. He said that it was a microcosm of Henan campus culture, and he was looking forward to how it developed in the future. He said that the goal was networking and connecting with students across the nation to improve new media on campuses. The 5th Henan Universities' New Media Forum was held at Sias from May 25 to 27.
The parents' representative, Dong Meilan, thanked Sias for its unique and cooperative model. She said that it helped develop and nurture the international talents of tomorrow. She also spoke of the platform that was provided to students and encouraged students to make the most of the opportunities provided by studying hard.
At the Homecoming ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of Sias, Dr. Shawn Chen, and the President of Fort Hays State University, Dr. Tisa Mason, exchanged gifts on behalf of their universities. Following this, the Sias President, Dr. Chen Sikun, and Associate Professor at Cape Breton University (in Canada), John MacKinnon, signed an agreement on behalf of the two universities. In a subsequent speech, Prof. MacKinnon said that was very happy to visit Sias International University and formalize an agreement for a bilingual MBA program at Cape Breton University. He said he was looking forward to engaging with students and faculty from Sias at the International Education Exhibition later in the day. The Homecoming Celebration was concluded with a series of performances by the Sias Art Troupe that included students and faculty members from Sias' Schools of Music, Opera, and Physical Education.
In the afternoon, a variety of events were held for students and their parents. The annual 'Birdman' Contest was held at the river in the western part of the Sias campus. The Parents' Conference was held that afternoon as well. The Chairman of the Board of Sias, Dr. Shawn Chen, met with parents and explained the current and future development plans of Sias. He also answered their questions in an open forum, reassuring them that Sias' main focus was the students and their educational needs.
Sias' 16th Homecoming also involved Henan's 1st University Architecture Model & Design Contest, the 2018 Graduation Design Exhibition, the 8th Sias Alumni Summit, the Parents' Committee election, a basketball invitational, a university debate invitational, and the annual Fluorescent Night Run. There were a number of performances across the campus that combined a wide range of tastes and genres, and yet brought students, parents, alumni, and guests together in a festive celebration.
