Sicheng Fan is a contributor to On Magnolia Square.
As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to draw attention around the globe, students, faculty, and staff discuss whether or not NYU Shanghai is inclusive enough of its current and prospective Black community members.
Yu Lizhong, NYU Shanghai's Founding Chancellor, announced at the commencement ceremony for the class of 2020, that he is retiring in June. Doctor Tong Shijun, a philosophy professor and the former Party Secretary of East China Normal University, will be the next chancellor of NYU Shanghai.
The announcement of reopening campus was sent out on April 21th. However, what had preceded this announcement was sense of nostalgia, which has been rapidly growing among people at NYU Shanghai amid the global pandemic. Social media has been filled with countless nice memories of the old days, bringing us back to the "wonderland" on Century Avenue, where we once shared laughter and tears. People from different angles at the NYU Shanghai community, including students, faculty, and staff have shared their nostalgic feeling during the past several months.
On April 9th, China Standard Time, the student government election of Spring 2020 kicked off after an announcement email was sent out. The election of this year is the first total virtual election ever held at NYU Shanghai. Candidates are running for their positions in this challenging semester. Among the initiatives came up by the candidates, the most striking ones include integration between Chinese and international students, preparation for students to return after the coronavirus outbreak, more flexible textbook policy, feedback system for cafeteria, and better use of public space. OCA will be closely following the election of this year.
NYU Florence is closing the campus amid the escalation of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, where more than 220 people have been infected and 7 have been killed. Following NYU Shanghai, NYU Florence became the second NYU campus that stopped on-site teaching due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The sudden closure of the campus is forcing students to depart immediately, no matter if they are living on-campus or off-campus. Starting from March 2nd, all classes at NYU Florence will resume via the Zoom online platform, which is being successfully used at NYU Shanghai. NYU Florence’s closure has left many wondering whether the outbreak of COVID-19 will impact more NYU campuses. If so, how should the students and staff react to sudden changes if another NYU campus is closed?
“The American Dream was the opposite of what they thought it was.” Abigail, a member of the LEAD Program by Diversity Initiatives and a sophomore at NYU Shanghai from America, organized a panel on the story of Latino immigrants in the United States. Abigail shared with OCA about her personal experience and opinion on what it means to a Latino American.
Why do the left-behind children still seem to be helpless? Why is the education gap between urban and rural areas still being enlarged? Why is it that the number of students coming from rural areas is continuously decreasing in the leading universities in China? Why does it seem that the left-behind children are still repeating their parent’s fate?