NYU President Linda Mills visited NYU Shanghai in early September, meeting with students, faculty members, and university leaders during her first trip to the campus since taking office. The visit included the annual welcome address for the Class of 2029 and a viewing of a landmark performance of student life: The Reality Show.

From the very beginning, the president’s message to the class of 2029 emphasized empathy, diversity, and bridge-building.

“Visiting NYU Shanghai is one of my favorite parts of my job,” Mills said. “I’ve been visiting since the earliest days of planning for our first campus on Century Avenue.”

The Century Avenue site in Pudong’s financial district placed NYU Shanghai at the center of the city’s rapid development, surrounded by skyscrapers and busy banks with a student body heavily focused on finance majors. In 2022, the university moved to its current Qiantan campus, a quieter area with parks, cultural venues, and new state-of-the-art digital labs that have expanded programs in interactive media and digital arts.

Her stop in Shanghai was brief but filled with tradition. Mills joined faculty and leadership to greet new students and watched The Reality Show, the university’s annual theater performance on campus life. The production holds particular significance for her as she helped create the original version at NYU New York in 2006.

“Each September, I have the privilege of welcoming students to all three of our degree-granting campuses—New York, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi—and then watching each campus’ version of the Reality Show,” she said.

Directed towards the incoming students, the president’s speech underscored the university’s global mission.

“Seek to be a person of empathy, someone who others trust, judging not on background or belief,” she told the incoming class. “We have intentionally assembled this undergraduate class to create the next generation of bridge builders.”

Mills highlighted what she sees as NYU Shanghai’s defining quality: composition.

“One of the magical things about NYU Shanghai is the composition of the school, with students self-selecting to attend a university that is made up of people with different perspectives and backgrounds,” she said. “Whether these students have come…from Beijing or Boston, they share the desire to be part of an internationally diverse and cosmopolitan community. And that gives me great hope for our future.”

Mills greatly valued the opportunity to meet students, faculty, and leadership during the trip as well as a front-row seat in the show.

“The excitement in the air for the upcoming year was palpable,” she said.