The STL community celebrated the eighth Commencement Ceremony of Peking University’s School of Transnational Law (STL) on May 18, 2019. The ceremony recognized the extraordinary achievement of STL’s 76 J.D./J.M. graduates and 5 LL.M. graduates.
This year’s commencement was held in the International Conference Center on Peking University’s Shenzhen Graduate Campus. During the ceremony, graduates and their families heard from STL’s Founding Dean and current Executive Vice Chancellor of NYU’s Shanghai campus, Jeffrey Lehman, Attorney Wenchang Tian, the Founder and Honorary director of King & Capital Law Firm, STL Professor Sang Yop Kang, and graduating student Chenying Liu.
STL Dean Philip McConnaughay began the ceremony with a brief address to the graduates. “You all are unique insofar as you are graduating in the year of STL’s tenth anniversary. This gives some additional notoriety to this occasion, but it also emphasizes the special responsibility each of you has.” He proceeded to emphasize that it was the students’ individual responsibilities to themselves, to their clients, and to their law school to live up to the high expectations set on their future. “These are the attributes that will account for your professional reputation, and the example you set will be your greatest contribution to China, and to STL”.
Dean Lehman shared simple yet powerful career wisdom with the students. “I have three pieces of advice to offer: first, read at least one book, on paper, every month. My second piece of advice is that you connect with your fellow STL graduates. And my third piece of advice is that you pause every five years to ask yourself whether it is time to try something new. I have come to believe that a full life involves adventure, in which you search, explore, solve problems, overcome challenges, invent, and create. No one job can give you all of those things, but a series of jobs across a career certainly can.”
Professor Sang Yop Kang addressed the graduates on behalf of the faculty. He encouraged graduates to take the challenges they will inevitably confront in their future head on. “Although you are quite capable and enthusiastic, in your career, you will encounter many serious obstacles that will repeatedly test your volition. A challenge will always make you anxious, but remember that it is the process of finding the value that you should search for”.
Chenying Liu, who provided the address on behalf of the graduates, talked about how STL supported and inspired her in the past 4 years. She also expressed her thoughts about the purpose of studying law. “Here we are not only mentored to be lawyers and better lawyers, but also inspired to be enthusiastic advocates for our chosen cause, open-minded citizens of one or more nations and responsible cohabitants on this planet. Our end goal for the system determines what kind of lawyer we desire to be and what will become of our community “joint venture.” Therefore, please bear your destination in mind and constantly look up, then be proud of every inch you move toward it”.
Attorney Wenchang Tian made a keynote speech for the graduates. He mentioned the relationship between law and public opinion and said that, in order to truly understand the rule of law and become a qualified legal person, graduates need to connect theory and practice in their future cases. He hoped STL graduates would make more achievements in their career life and devote themselves to the development of Chinese law in the near future.
Later on, Dean Philip McConnaughay read out the degree awarding decision of Peking University School of Transnational Law of 2019.
Like their predecessors, 2019 graduates are employed by top multinational law firms, domestic and foreign companies and financial institutions, state-owned enterprises and government departments.
The graduation ceremony celebrated this momentous transitional phase in their life by commemorating their accomplishments thus far and anticipating the many more to come.
Best of luck to all graduates!
