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Dr. Brett Fairbairn, President and Vice Chancellor, Thompson Rivers University

It is a great honour to be present today for the convocation ceremony of Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the many distinguished guests and dignitaries. I also want to recognize the faculty and staff, our partners at Beijing Concord College, the families and friends, and — most of all — the graduating students.

This is an impressive and historic venue. It is truly a great honour to participate here today, and to represent Thompson Rivers University. I am thankful to Beijing Concord College for entrusting Thompson Rivers University, TRU, to be part of your students’ lives over the years. It has been our great pleasure to be involved in recruitment activities and other events. Most importantly, we are very glad to have helped prepare Beijing Concord students for potential study abroad at TRU.

Beijing Concord has demonstrated leadership in the field of education, particularly through its chairman of the board, Francis Pang. Under Mr Pang’s leadership, Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada has uncovered and developed the potential of youth and bridged cultures through education.

I note that Mr Pang recently received one of Canada’s highest honours, the Order of Canada, for championing cross-cultural education between China and Canada. This is in addition to other honours including from my own university. Mr Pang was awarded an honorary degree from TRU in 2007. I had the pleasure of meeting Francis Pang and his Executive Director, Andy Truong, in June as they came to Kamloops for our own Convocation and for my installation as president. I am thrilled to be here today, for this milestone event, to honour the graduating students as well as to present TRU’s scholarships to Concord graduates.

This is a significant anniversary, as TRU’s relationship with Beijing Concord began 20 years ago. In fact, Beijing Concord is TRU’s longest-standing Chinese partner and friend.

Strong relationships are built on shared values. TRU and Beijing Concord share a deep belief in the power of education to transform lives. That is why all of us are here today – because education changes lives.

When I think about the transformative power of education, I think of my own mother. She was born on a small farm in rural Saskatchewan, Canada, one of 8 children. She imagined a better life for herself, and she found it by pursuing education. While she served in the Canadian military she took correspondence classes for improvement. She and my father completed their education at college with degrees in History and English, leading to professions and lifelong interest in reading and learning. My mother was the first in her family to attend university. It changed her life – and mine, too. It is because of her example that I am here today.

The world has changed since my mother was a young girl, but education has only become more important. In my mother’s youth, only a few people attended college or university, but today it is important for society that many, many people do so. The expansion of access to higher education has been one of the great imperatives of recent times.

TRU is a university that has grown to fulfill society’s mission for access. TRU offers a range of programs including trades certificates, diplomas, academic degrees, and graduate and professional programs. Through Open Learning, our students can learn online without coming to class in person. We offer high-impact learning experiences like work internships, service learning, and undergraduate involvement in research. We offer many, many pathways to success that did not exist 50 years ago. And we offer students access to a campus that includes 90 nationalities, where one-third of students come from outside Canada.

We do all of this, because we know that education changes lives.

You, the graduates of Beijing Concord College, will be graduating into a world that has many challenges.

In Canada, I believe there are two great challenges for coming generations. The first challenge is to ensure environmental sustainability in the face of global heating and loss of biodiversity. A second challenge, particularly for us in Canada, is to work with Indigenous peoples to right past wrongs and achieve reconciliation.

Sustainability and reconciliation are important priorities, but they are part of an even bigger picture. We will not solve the world’s urgent challenges unless we can continue to build understanding between different people and different groups.

For all of us here today, building bridges between cultures is a priority. Beijing Concord, TRU, and all the partners represented today share a belief in intercultural understanding as a key to future success.

A shared commitment to intercultural education is the foundation for our long partnership with Beijing Concord College. So far that partnership has lasted 20 years – and we look forward to the next 20 years and beyond.

To all of you graduates: all the best for the future. You have the best preparation your teachers could give you to prepare you for the world’s problems and opportunities. You go onward supported by all of our hopes, all of our goodwill, and all of our best wishes. Congratulations to each and every one of you.