Mr. Jiang Kaili at the 2020 Graduation Ceremony of Xinya College

Dear students of Xinya College and their family and friends,distinguished teachers,

Good evening.

Four years ago, Ibecame your class adviser.During this period,I took the general education courses with you and benefited a lot. I am honored to make a speech at the graduation ceremony today as the class adviser!

At the class meeting on graduation two days ago, I asked the students if they remembered the two expectations I mentioned at our first class meeting in thefreshmen year. They just remembered the first one, which is "to have dinner with everyclassmate". They said matter-of-factly, "Sorry, Mr. Jiang, we just remember the dinner." But I am the onewho should be sorry because Ifailed to have dinner with every one of you. About the second expectation, I told the students: "As the class adviser, I don't care if you can be rated as a first-class Youth League branch or an excellent class.WhatIcare about is that before you graduate, a family bond can be cultivated among us." It has been over-achieved. We became a family, and the class was rated as a first-class Youth League branch and an excellent class. Congratulations!

Tomorrow you will be going different ways.As your "parent",I want to give yousomeadvice. Here are two keywords: truth and family. First of all, I would like to ask a question: "What is the species that intends to seek the truth most in this world?"

The answer is "virus"! Why?It is becauseviruses have no self-awareness, no emotion, and no knowledge of "self, others, and society". In their eyes, everyone is equal, regardless of his/her social status, race, and religious belief.For example, the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) becamean impartial examiner to test whether the governments and officials at all levels are seeking truth from facts.Thoseseeking truth from facts, believing in science, and respecting scientistsperformexcellently in pandemic prevention. You are lucky to have seen such an unprecedented world-class exam. A multitude of feelings have surged up in me and I want you to think about it: "If you were the governor of Hubei or the mayor of Wuhan, how would you deal with the outbreak? If you were a member of the medical team, how would you investigate it?" The answer is that there are thousands of approaches though, the most essential one is "seeking truth from facts"!

Now I would like to ask the second question: "Whereistruth told the most in the world?" The answer is "family"! You have no scruples at home. You can tell the truth because there is love and tolerance. Family members can understand each other when someone says something wrong. Criticizing in the family is for your good, and the criticized can understand that others are well-meaning. Family is the safest and best place inthe world. The best thing in one's life is living in an environment like home all the time. So my suggestion to you is no matter where you go, try to make the atmosphere home-like and turn interpersonal relationships into family relationships. If you treat everyone in Xinya College as a family member, you can do what Dean Gan Yang does; if you treat everyone in Tsinghua University as a family member, you can do what President Qiu Yong does; if you treat everyone in the world as a family member... I can't imagine that. Try tofigure out the answer byyourself. To sum up, you should create a home-like atmosphere everywhere.

I am a typical science geek. As a student, I did not take any general education courses. My wife oncemade fun of me, saying that I was a terribly illiterate man. But after the past four years in Xinya College, I feel that I am quite literate now. What I am talking about today is from the three outlines and eight terms of Confucianism in China. "Studying the nature of things with sincerity and cultivating oneself with honesty" tells us how to forget oneself, put aside emotions, and "seek truth from facts"; "cultivating one's moral character, putting one's family affairs in order, governing the country and bringing peace to the world" tells us how to cultivate oneself and build a family, to manage "state and world affairs". I recommend the Confucian classicThe Great Learning to you.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Gan Yang, Mr. Ruan Dong, Mr. Zhao Xiaoli, Mr. Zhang Weite, as well as the teachers and counselors of Xinya College. Thank you for building Xinya College into a big happy and warm family! Thanks to you, weare free to speakour minds here. Ialso wantto thank the students for being with me for four years.

Finally, I wish the students a happy time upon graduation!Welcome back oftento have dinner with me!