In the morning of 17 June, the 2015 graduation ceremony of the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) was held at the STA Theatre. STA leaders, heads of the colleges and departments and heads of the functional offices took seat on the stage. Representatives of teachers and parents also attended the ceremony together with all graduates. The ceremony was chaired by Ms Hu Min, STA Deputy Party Secretary.
After showing the gradation video “You are STA”, the leaders and teachers entered the theatre and took seat in the warm applauses of the graduates. The graduation ceremony formally started with all graduates standing up and singing the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. Mr Guo Yu, STA Vice President, read out the name list of excellent graduates at the municipal and university levels. Mr Zhang Weiling, STA Vice President, read out the name list of excellent graduation theses. The recipients of these titles went onto the stage and received the excellent graduate certificates and excellent graduation thesis certificates presented to them by the STA leaders.
In their speeches, the student representative, parent representative and teacher representative all expressed their real feelings. Mr Yin Tianfu, Vice Dean of Stage Design Department, gave the speech on behalf of all teachers. He hoped that wherever the graduates will go, they will go with the distinctive mark of “STAer” and expected that the graduates will achieve great success with their sincerity, diligence and wisdom and make STA proud of them.
At this time when the student life is about to conclude, the graduates expressed their gratitude to the teachers by presenting the thank-you cards to the teachers and giving them the warmest loving hug.
In the warm applause, STA President Mr Han Sheng made the graduation address. He emphasized that the concept of STA is not just a physical campus and is more of a cultural presences. STA exists wherever there is a STAer. The value of STA is reflected in the achievements and contribution that its graduates have made across China and all over the world.
To the accompaniment of the passionate STA school song, Mr Lou Wei, STA Party Secretary, conducted the school flag handover ceremony. When the representative of the graduates returned the school flag to Mr Lou Wei who then handed it over to the representative of the current students. At this moment, the applause thundered forth in the theatre.
Mr Huang Changyong and Mr Gong Baorong, STA Vice Presidents, conducted the bachelor, master and doctoral degree conferring ceremony. The eligible graduates went onto the stage full of joy for the turning of the tassel and received the graduation certificates from the STA leaders. At the end of the graduation ceremony, all teachers and students sang the Graduation Song in chores and took a group photo to mark the occasion.
2015 marks the 70th anniversary of STA. Over the past 70 years, STA has grown from the initial Shanghai Experimental Drama School into a comprehensive university of arts. It has cultivated a large number of excellent talents active in the cultural and artistic areas. Now, another batch of STA graduates are about to embark on their journey into the society. We sincerely wish that all the graduates are able to realize their artistic ideal and make positive contribution to China’s cultural development.
