Session 1 (Monday, October 13, 2025)
Opening Ceremony
On the morning of October 13, 2025, Columbia University officially launched its 25th Anniversary Celebration Opening Day at Milbank Chapel in Teachers College. Dr. Henan Cheng, Executive Director of the Center on Chinese Education, served as host, outlining the event’s background, purpose, and agenda, and extending her appreciation to all guests and participants.
To begin the celebration, President Thomas Bailey of Teachers College, Columbia University delivered opening remarks, highlighting the College’s long-standing academic ties with Chinese educators since the early 20th century, including the influence of John Dewey’s exchanges with pioneering Chinese scholars. He commended CoCE’s significant contributions since its founding in 2000: advancing comparative and international education, developing professional training programs, and promoting policy dialogue. President Bailey affirmed the College’s commitment to supporting CoCE in deepening collaboration on topics such as artificial intelligence and education, higher education governance, quality enhancement, educational equity, and social development, while expanding mobility and joint opportunities for students and scholars.
Following President Bailey’s remarks, Professor Mingyuan Gu, Distinguished Professor and Former Vice President, Beijing Normal University, Honorary Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, delivered a congratulatory video message. He praised Professor Mun C. Tsang’s visionary founding of the Center and affirmed its long-term contributions to cultivating outstanding Chinese students and fostering mutual understanding between China and the United States.
Building on this reflection, Professor Hervé Varenne, Gardner Cowles Professor of Anthropology and Education at Teachers College and Acting Director of CoCE, shared his perspective on the Center’s academic mission. He emphasized that CoCE serves not only as a bridge between U.S. and Chinese scholarly communities but also as a public space for comparative research, talent development, and policy dialogue. Through joint teaching, collaborative research, and academic exchange, scholars from diverse cultural and methodological traditions can engage openly and constructively, generating new perspectives and shared understandings.
Continuing the theme of fostering educational exchange, Professor John Allegrante, Charles Irwin Lambert Professor of Health Behavior and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, then gave an address focusing on the importance of youth leadership and long-term vision. He encouraged students to face contemporary challenges with foresight and determination, expressing his affirmation that future leaders would emerge from this generation.
As a meaningful gesture of friendship and collaboration, Vice President Zhen Kang of Beijing Normal University presented a piece of commemorative calligraphy to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Center on Chinese Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work, titled: “Together across twenty-five bridges of learning, our shared torch of education shines through the century,” symbolizes the enduring partnership between Beijing Normal University and Teachers College. Professor Zhen Kang expressed his expectation that both sides will continue to deepen collaboration in key areas such as world-class university development, education digitalization, AI literacy, teacher development in basic education, educational evaluation, and quality assurance.
Inaugural Tsang-Gu Annual Lecture
Following the opening ceremony, the Inaugural Tsang–Gu Annual Lecture, named in honor of Professor Mun C. Tsang and Professor Mingyuan Gu, featured Professor Weifang Min from Peking University. His keynote speech underscored the need to enhance educational quality and governance, enabling education to become a driving force for sustainable economic development. Professor Min further highlighted the critical role of international educational exchange in shaping national development and strengthening global understanding.
Professor Min emphasized that some students completed their studies in the United States and returned to China to serve as pioneers in advancing friendship and cooperation between the two countries. He noted that through their efforts, more than two hundred province-to-state, county-to-county, and city-to-city sister partnerships have been established, along with thousands of university-to-university and school-to-school connections. These initiatives, he explained, have laid a broad and solid foundation for long-term people-to-people ties and educational cooperation across the Pacific. Moreover, such exchanges have played an important role in supporting China’s ongoing reform and opening up by fostering wider global visions and deeper international engagement.