“Resilience and Resolution” Remarks by University President Cheng-Chih Wu on the 98th NTNU Anniversary
Remarks by Dr. Cheng-Chih Wu, University President
At the National Taiwan Normal University 98th University Anniversary Ceremony, June 5, 2020
Honorable guests, members of National Taiwan Normal University—our professors, students and alumni, administration team, and audiences on live streaming:
Welcome to ceremony of the 98th University Anniversary of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). We are very grateful in Taiwan that we can gather here to celebrate NTNU's anniversary amid the COVID-19 global pandemic. First, we would like to thank all medical professionals and disease control teams for leading Taiwan to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you, all members of NTNU, for your care and impeccable work during the uncertain times. Thank you!
For the past 5 months, Taiwan and the world have witnessed the threat and fear inflicted by the COVID-19 virus; we now understand how frail human beings are. NTNU, among all universities in Taiwan, experienced the deepest impact and challenges. However, we successfully completed more than one hundred household quarantine cases at school dormitory, and immediately moved to online courses. All members of the universities joined forces to develop a human-centered system to streamline entrance-control for all three NTNU campuses. The university have been operating at a “normal” state because of our teamwork, which demonstrated the resilient and action-driven nature of our University. Thank you again, all members of NTNU!
Taiwan’s famous poet, the late Professor C.H. Wang (1940-2020, pen-name: YANG Mu, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of Washington and Chair Professor of NTNU) said a famous phrase:
“To change is never simple, to not change is to die.” Towards the Completion of a Poem, 2012. (Original phrase in Chinese: 變不是一件容易的事，然而不變即是死亡。他們在島嶼寫作《朝向一首詩的完成》楊牧)
On this university’s 98th anniversary, I would like to use this phrase to call upon everybody to continue to renew, change, and learn so we can overcome challenges and thrive.
In today’s celebration, we will be honoring four Distinguished Alumni For their achievements in arts, academia, industry, and social services. I would like to congratulate them and I am sure we are all inspired and we all look up to them.
Today, we will also honor the 2019/2020 Student Achievement recipients. They are students who contributed substantially to the society. We are very proud of you and we solute you.
Now, let’s wish our alma mater, National Taiwan Normal University, a happy 98th birthday. I also wish all of you a healthy and thriving summer! Thank you!