Shanghai Normal University organizes physical graduation ceremonies

---

10 Photos  |  View Slide Show ›

• 
  Ti Gong
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
  Ti Gong

With many universities organizing online graduation ceremonies amid the pandemic, Shanghai Normal University is holding physical commencements for its 5,000-plus graduates.

The first ceremony was held on a road inside the university campus in Xuhui District on Monday with 400 graduates, including Zhou Juan, a Chinese language and literature major.

“I was upset because I thought I could only attend an online ceremony due to the pandemic,” she said. “Now I’m so glad that I can round off my four years of university life in such a way and say ‘happy graduation’ to my classmates face to face. I also feel good to be able to return to the campus, where everything and every teacher make me feel at home.”

Areziguli Aierken, with the university’s mathematics and science college, had traveled more than 4,000 kilometers from her hometown in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Shanghai to attend the ceremony.

“No matter how far the way is, it’s worth it to be once again back on the campus I have been missing day and night,” she said.

Like millions of other students, their campus life had been interrupted by the sudden outbreak of the pandemic. To help them graduate on time, the university organized 1,738 online courses and carried out oral defenses for their dissertations via the Internet.

To ensure health and safety during the graduation ceremonies, the university divided all graduates into four groups and asked them to come back group by group. It's also helping to cover costs for those returning from key affected areas, such as Hubei Province and Jilin City, to spend their 14-day quarantine in designated hotels and take nucleic acid tests. Only those with negative results can return to campus.

Altogether, there will be 18 ceremonies to keep the gatherings small and ensure the health of students.

The events will also be livestreamed online for parents, alumni, teachers and students who cannot come.

“We’re glad to see each other on campus again today, but we also have to say goodbye now,” said Zhu Ziqiang, president of the university. “You’ve learned an unforgettable lesson in fighting the pandemic, and I hope you will continue to fight for yourself and the whole society in the future.”

Zhu and other university leaders also led the faculty in singing the song “Songbie” (“farewell” in Chinese) for the graduates.