On September 18, the opening ceremony of the Beutler Institute was held in Xiamen University. It was attended by Professor Jiahuai Han, the vice president of Xiamen University and the first dean of the Beutler Institute, Guang Chen, the secretary of CPC committee of School of Life sciences, Wei Zhang, the deputy secretary of CPC committee of School of Life sciences,  Zhaojun Huang, the deputy secretary of CPC committee of School of Public Health, Professor Tongjin Zhao, the discipline-specific tutor of the Beutler Institute, Yundong Chen, Ziyang Jiang, the counselor of the Beutler Institute, and Mengxiao Ye, Lu Zhou, the secretary of the Beutler Institute. The ceremony was host by Wei Zhang.

Pro. Han first on behalf of all BI staff warmly welcomed the class of 2016. Then, he gave a detailed introduction of the two training scheme of the institute, the General Education Program and The Talented Students Training Program. He said that the General Education Program of the institute hopes to nurture self-reflective, caring and socially responsible individuals within an intellectually stimulating and muti-cultural environment. It represents a departure from the traditional model of education where students can acquire soft skills beyond the students’ chosen fields of study. Pro.Han also mentioned, the institute was named in honor of  Dr. Bruce Beutler to keep reminding students of the spirit of scientific research. 

Pro.Han also concluded the difference between these two programs is that the former pays attention to students’ extra-curricular activities, and the latter provided first-class education quality as well as the teachers strength in the world for students. Both serve as a unique platform which offers unparalleled opportunities for promising students and prepares them for future achievement.

Prof.Han put forward three hopes to freshmen: Cherish the opportunity, cherish the time, and cherish the whole life. He said, students should seize the great opportunities that provided by Xiamen University and the Beutler Institute and make every day count rather than wasting too much time on computer games or other entertainment activities.

The tutor representative Pro. Tongjin Zhao recommended that students  can set a life goal as soon as possible. He encouraged freshmen to have more communication with the tutors and senior students.

The student representative Ziyan Wang shared her university life to help freshmen discover their interest and balance the study and life. She also shared a word with everyone: Love what you do and do what you love.