On the afternoon of September 11, 2017, a plenary meeting of the administrative council of Xinya College was held at Tsinghua Xuetang. Vice President Yang Bin, Xu Qinghong, Head of the Organization Department of the school Party committee, and others attended the meeting. Xu Qinghong announced the decision of the University Council of Tsinghua that Prof. Gan Yang, former Director of Xinya College, was appointed as the new dean of the college. The meeting was presided over by Prof. Cao Li, Vice Dean of the college.

Vice President Yang Bin fully affirmed Zheng Li's significant contributions to preparing for the establishment of Xinya College during his service as Director of the Office of Academic Affairs. He said that Xinya College has built a team of like-minded people who are ambitious for general education, have a passion for talent cultivation, and strive for high-level teaching. Led by Zheng Li, the college leadership represented by Cao Li, Ruan Dong, Zhao Xiaoli, and Weng Hekai and the faculty body who participated in the education work have overcome many challenges and difficulties and made meaningful attempts in the path of reform and innovation in general education and national higher education. They have made outstanding achievements, accumulated a wealth of useful experience, and carved out a reputation nationwide in a short period. Vice President Yang Bin further pointed out that as one of the two colleges (The other is Schwarzman College) established by Tsinghua University, Xinya College is of strategic significance to Tsinghua's general education and undergraduate education reform. Noting that Prof. Gan Yang is a well-known scholar with an insightful understanding of general education and a proven track record in promoting general education across the country, he expects that Xinya College led by Prof. Gan Yang in his full-time capacity as Dean of the college will scale new heights and make new contributions to Tsinghua's overall undergraduate education reform efforts. Looking ahead, Vice President Yang Bin hopes that all members of the administrative council of Xinya College can keep working hard to establish an innovative integrated administration mechanism that is suitable for college development, think outside the box, and start a new chapter for Xinya College.

Prof. Zheng Li stated his support for Prof. Gan Yang's appointment. Without the continuous and comprehensive support from the university, the concerted and great efforts of the team of the college represented by Prof. Cao Li as well as the wholehearted guidance and dedication of Prof. Gan Yang, Xinya College would not have gotten where it is now. As Prof. Zheng Li pointed out, through three years of efforts, Xinya College has developed a faculty body with ambition and passion for education and teaching, carved outa reputation, and set an example of the ideal education.He hopes that Xinya College will be put on a faster and better track for development under Prof. Gan's leadership.

Prof. Gan said that it's a great honor to serve as the new Dean of Xinya College and expressed his gratitude to Tsinghua University and all the leaders for their trust, to former Dean Zheng Li, Prof. Cao Li, and the whole team for their concerted and innovative efforts in establishing Xinya College from scratch, and to the education community for their selfless contributions. Stating that serving as the Dean of Xinya College comes with great responsibility, Prof. Gan said he will learn from his colleagues about the college in all aspectsas quickly as possible, play a positive role in Tsinghua's strategic efforts in undergraduate education and teaching reform, guide Xinya College through difficulties and challenges, and take Xinya College's development to new heights.

On behalf of all the members of the administrative council of Xinya College, Prof. Cao Li extended her heartfelt thanks to Prof. Zheng Li for his great support in promoting college development and stated her full support and cooperation for Prof. Gan Yang's work. She hopes that Xinya College will explore more and better structural resources and paths and make unremitting efforts to develop a world-leading residential liberal arts college that reflects China's reality and highlights Tsinghua's defining qualities and create a world-leading innovative university education model.