Good morning to everyone in Beijing. Good afternoon and good evening to our Global Business Journalism graduates and their families around the world.

My name is Rick Dunham, co-director of the Global Business Journalism Program. On behalf of my-director, Dr. Hang Min, and our partners at the International Center for Journalists and Bloomberg News, I would like to congratulate this year’s GBJ graduates from 11 nations on five continents. You are the future of global journalism, and you are now have special expertise on China, international economics, and our rapidly changing interdependent world because of your time in the Global Business Journalism program.

I am deeply grateful for the support and leadership of Executive Dean Chen and Dean Hu, both visionary and effective leaders. Special thanks to Dean Hang, who is a dynamic international voice for Tsinghua University, and to Associate Deans Shi Anbin and Professor Zhou Qing’an, who have dedicated themselves to Tsinghua’s global leadership. I know I speak for all of our GBJ students when I say“多谢”to Li Chengzhang, who has been a tireless and skillful coordinator in very complex times. Chengzhang’s poise, quiet brilliance and extraordinary communication skills have helped all of us who have been stranded outside of China fulfill our mission.

As I mentioned, it has been a challenging 18 months since we first learned of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Almost all of our students and international faculty were stranded in their home countries. And even as those of you living in China were slowly able to return to campus, our international students were unable to complete the special Chinese living experience that makes GBJ unique in the world.

However, instead of complaining about what they lost, our students embraced the opportunities afforded by distance learning and helped shape our innovative experiments of the past year. This year’s graduating class overcame some daunting challenges and excelled. I believe this is the best graduating class in the 14-year history of Global Business Journalism. We produced more journalism portfolios than ever before, and I am confident that we will produce some future stars in global journalism, from Japan to France, Southern Africa to Australia, China to the Americas.

A final word about journalism and the pandemic: The COVID-19 outbreak reminded all of us how vital a vibrant, fact-based news media is to the health of our world. Heroic reporters around the world, including Global Business Journalism graduates Zhou Jaxin, Linda Lew and Betsy Joles, reported accurately and skillfully on the outbreak. The International Center for Journalists created a Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum to share information, expert sources, story tips and best practices. ICFJ – and journalists around the world – helped all of us combat rumors, misinformation, disinformation, racism and nationalistic prejudice.

The tragedy of this coronavirus is real. Millions of families around the world, including mine, are mourning the deaths of family members – in my case, my Uncle Ray, who died of COVID last December. But with effective vaccines and widespread immunization, many regions of the world are returning to a more normal life. I am hoping that China will again welcome international students and scholars before too long.

Although most of our 2021 international graduates cannot be with us today in person, we salute you. You are courageous. You are persistent. You are resilient. You are special. Thank you!