On the morning of September 17, our school held the opening ceremony for freshmen of 2010 on Zhangzhou campus. The president Zhu Chongshi delivered a speech on the ceremony, hoping the freshmen could transit from teenagers to adults as soon as possible, becoming initiative to take responsibilities, learning to be independent, self-disciplined and tolerant.

Chengxun military leaders, commander of Xiamen garrison, leader of Zhangzhou Military district , Xiamen University leaders Chen Liwen, Chen Guofeng, Sun Shigang, Li hair, Laihong Kai, member of Party Committee and the minister of Organization Department Bai Xineng, president assistant Lee Chuhuan, Dean of Jiageng College Wang Ruifang, deputy secretary and vice dean Lu Tongan, agencies ministries personnel, the party and government leaders, student representatives, and 8861 new students of each college attended the ceremony. The Ceremony was presided by the president assistant, the secretary of Zhangzhou Campus Party Working Committee, and the director of management committee Wang Qiaoping.

After airing gun salute and a solemn flag-raising ceremony, the opening ceremony began.

Zhu Chongshi delivered a speech first. He represented the school to welcome new students from all over the world, and to pay tribute and heartfelt thanks to those who support and help students choose Xiamen University as well as to all officers and men of the troops .

Zhu Chongshi said that the average age of everybody here was 18 years old, just entering adulthood and today's opening ceremony could be also seen as their puberty rite, which marks they entered a new stage of life. He shared his views on adults with the freshmen. That is, adults should take responsibilities and learn to be independent, self-disciplined and tolerant.

Zhu Chongshi noted that adults should take responsibilities for their own instead of having their parents to take responsibility for their actions. A person should be responsible for himself, and then he could be responsible for his family, his community, and his country. A sense of responsibility is the essential quality of the students in Xiamen University.

Zhu Chongshi also said it was not inadvisable that some students cannot be independent psychologically. Being able to think independently, solve problems independently, deal with their own difficulties and problems independently, including looking for others’ help, is a mark of one’s maturity. He hoped the students could solve the problems they encountered independently from now on. The spirit of independence is a must for students in Xiamen University.

Zhu Chongshi said that students should know how to discipline themselves in the university and understand what should be done and what should not be done. He hoped every student can become a self-disciplined person and a model citizen on the campus.

Zhu Chongshi pointed out that tolerance is a virtue. The civilized society must be a tolerant society. Xiamen University is an open and diversified school, calm, tolerant, and open-minded are the temperament of the students in Xiamen University. Students should take care of each other, help each other, be mutual tolerant and live harmoniously like brothers and sisters. As long as you treat everything with tolerance, you are bound to find friends and partners to achieve your beautiful dream.

At last, Zhu Chongshi hoped that the soldiers could be strict with the students in the military training and the students could take the military training seriously, respect instructors and obey orders. He hoped that after the military training, students could have a deeper understanding of responsibility, independence, self-discipline and tolerance. 

The teacher representative, Professor Zhu Yaxian, from Chemistry and Chemical Engineering College gave a warmly welcome to all freshmen in his speech. She hopes students could seriously consider these questions: What is university? What should you learn in the university? What you can harvest when you leave the campus after four years?  Zhu Yaxian told the students that they should be initiative to learn, develop good reading habits and the ability of independent thinking. At the same time, she represented all teachers to show the determination of improving the teaching level and being the mentor and friends of the students.

The student representative of 2009, Lv Feng from the College of Information Science and Technology made a speech. He hoped that the freshmen could quickly adapt to college life, plan their time rationally at university, establish a firm ideals and beliefs,  study hard, and take social responsibilities.

The Freshmen Representative, Zhang Baihe from College of Humanities expressed her heartfelt thanks to teachers and seniors on behalf of all freshmen. She said that freshmen should actively adapt to the new environment and learn to be self-reliant. Meanwhile, freshmen would also be thankful to others and learn to rely on their own to re-shape a better self.

The opening ceremony ended in the school anthem.