The opening of a second Hopkins building at SAIS in Nanjing has prompted a delegation of about 50 Hopkins affiliates to travel to China this June.
The team will be comprised of Board of Trustees members, the members of the Advisory Council for the Hopkins Nanjing Center and University president William Brody, who will commemorate the new building, which is dedicated to research and to the new Master of Arts in Chinese and American Relations program.
Hopkins' graduate program in Nanjing has been jointly administered by Nanjing University since 1986. The program pairs fifty American students with fifty Chinese students for a one-year certification program in Chinese and American Studies.
According to the program's Web site, "The one-year, graduate-level, residential program brings Chinese and International students together in a learning environment that extends beyond the interdisciplinary coursework offered in formal classes. Over the course of the year, many alumni build professional and personal relationships that last a lifetime."
According to Jerry Schnydman, Executive Assistant to the President and the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, the trustees' more than 100 members were invited to join the delegation because it is an opportunity for them to visit a branch of Hopkins that is not readily accessible. He said that the university makes an effort to open all dedication ceremonies and celebrations to the Board. Only about 20 members have accepted the invitation to represent Hopkins this summer.
Approximately 50 total representatives from the Board of Trustees and the Nanjing advisory council, and their spouses, will be representing Hopkins. Each will pay his or her own way, as Hopkins will not subsidize the trip.
Every Hopkins school or center has an advisory council like the Nanjing Center's advisory council that will travel with the trustees this summer. They will be conducting a meeting in which the board of trustees is invited to participate. In addition to this advisory council, the Web site reveals a more widespread council for the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. The Council's 29 members include President George H.W. Bush as the Honorary Chairman, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. However, neither will participate in this delegation.
Schnydman also revealed that he has arranged a side trip for the group to Manchuria. This is led by the Johns Hopkins co-director of the Nanjing Center.
In addition, Professor Liman Lievens, a Lecturer in the Chinese Department at Homewood, is also scheduled to travel this summer as a Mandarin tutor for President Brody.
A similar delegation represented Hopkins in Italy a few years ago when there was a celebration at the Johns Hopkins Bologna center.
