On June 14, JSOU held its 2026 graduation and degree conferral ceremony at the Yingtian Campus Gymnasium, with sub-venues at municipal and county open universities. The event celebrated 19,543 open education graduates and 2,137 vocational college graduates. University leadership, faculty, and student representatives attended, while graduates joined online. Vice President Hang Zhuhong presided over the ceremony.
Flag Presentation and University Address
Party Secretary Ding Rongyu presented the flag to graduating students, encouraging them to pursue lifelong learning, deepen their expertise, serve the country, and remain dedicated in their careers.
President Zhang Yingchun delivered the university's final lesson, using the metaphor of planting a tree to encourage graduates to take root downward and grow upward. She compared graduates from different educational backgrounds to various trees—poplars for open education graduates, metasequoias for vocational graduates, banyans for those continuing their studies, and pines for senior learners—illustrating diverse yet equally valuable paths of growth.
Addressing the question of where roots should grow, she urged graduates to ground themselves in China's traditional culture and the nation's modernization efforts, emphasizing practical contributions in everyday work. On what grows from these roots, she described three levels: establishing oneself through integrity, resilience, and solid grounding; growing through openness and collaboration; and benefiting society by serving the collective and the country.
Remarks and Awards
Deputy Party Secretary Niu Yutao announced the list of outstanding graduates. Vice President Liu Guiyou announced alumni liaison appointments. Vice President Geng Huantong read the bachelor's degree conferral document. University leaders presented certificates to outstanding graduates, diploma recipients, and alumni liaisons, and conferred degrees on open education graduates.
Speeches
Faculty representative Li Ruiwen, a provincial teaching master from the School of Design, encouraged graduates through artistic metaphors to pursue truth, uphold humanistic values, embrace digital intelligence, and approach their work with craftsmanship.
Enterprise mentor representative Zhu Wenming, Chief Engineer at Nanjing Kangni Mechanical & Electrical Co., Ltd. and a 3,000 Jiangsu Open Professor, offered career guidance based on industry experience.
Alumna Feng Kaiyan, Chairwoman of Jiangsu Donghua Accounting Firm and recipient of the Wuxi May 1 Labor Medal, shared insights from over thirty years in accounting.
Graduate representatives Shi Shanming from the School of Arts, a performer with the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Kunqu Opera Theatre, and Tang Yumeng from the School of Environment and Ecology, spoke about their growth and gratitude to the university.
The ceremony concluded with the university anthem. Prior to the ceremony, student performances and a graduation micro-film celebrated the graduates' journeys.