2015 Candlelight Ceremony-Sias University

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2015 Candlelight Ceremony

September 18, 2015

The Candlelight Ceremony for the 2015/16 academic year was held on September 14 at the Sias Stadium amid an extravaganza of color and emotion.

The chief guests, among several dignitaries, were the Vice Governor of Henan Province, Zhang Dawei, CEO of Toonz Animation Group, Jayakumar Prabhakaran Nair, the Director of Toonz Entertainment New Zealand, Mark Nicholls, Business Executive, Sach Chandaria, Director of Inspiree, Marc Fishman, President and Owner of Global Interactions Inc, Jerrie Ueberle, Chairman of the Board of Sias, Dr. Shawn Chen, and the Chairman of the Sias Foundation, Dr. Alan Brown. Also in attendance were Sias President, Dr. Chen Sikun, Sias Party Secretary, Fei Hexiang, Vice President, Liu Shuqin, Deputy Party Secretary, Li Huafeng, and Proctor Han Xiaoai.

The evening began with a video showing the military training that the freshmen received over the past 2 weeks, and a raffle draw for the students. This was followed by Sias' traditional candlelight ceremony where thousands of students, teachers, staff, and guests light candles to signal the start of the new academic year for the freshmen. Dr. Shawn Chen then welcomed the guests and delivered a speech explaining the educational ethos and international vision of Sias that the freshmen were going to learn about.

There were also speeches by Jayakumar Prabhakaran Nair, the CEO of Toonz Animation Group, Zhang Dawei, the Vice Governor of Henan Province, Dr. Alan Brown, Chairman of the Sias Foundation, and Sias' outstanding alumna, Lü Huihui, the Asian record holder for the women's javelin throw and silver medalist at the recently concluded 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing.

After a speech by a freshman representative, Vice President Liu Shuqin led the freshmen in taking the Sias student oath. The Sias Art Troupe then put on a fabulous show for all those present. The ceremony concluded with a huge fireworks display.

Sias' Candlelight Ceremony is an event that is getting bigger with each passing year and is receiving more and more coverage as the domestic and international profile of Sias rises. The event was covered by Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, Henan Daily, Henan TV, Zhengzhou TV, Dahe, Central Networks, and many other news agencies.

The Sias Candlelight Ceremony for the academic year 2015/16