Entrance Ceremony held for the fall semester 2023 academic year

On September 21, 2023, the Fall Semester Entrance Ceremony was held with parents and guarantors in attendance. For graduates, new students, parents, and guarantors who were unable to attend, the ceremony was simultaneously streamed on YouTube.

The Fall Semester Entrance Ceremony was held in Building 6.

The ceremony, rich in international atmosphere with many foreign language speaking students, was conducted entirely in English, with students from the English Speaking Society (SESS) serving the MC.

In addition to FLA, 225 full-time students (including one re-admitted student) were enrolled this fall in the Sophia Program for Sustainable Futures (SPSF), Faculty of Science and Engineering, and other undergraduate departments and graduate schools that offer English-based courses. Of these, 142 were international students.

Representatives of the new students expressed their hopes for their upcoming university life.

The ceremony began with a blessing by Father Antonius Firmansyar (Catholic Jesuit Center), followed by the reading of the Gospel of Matthew 9:16-17. Following President Yoshiaki Terumichi’s address, the representative of the new students, Ms. Xin Zhen (SPSF course, Faculty of Humanities), took the podium to deliver the speech.

Chancellor Augustine welcomed the new students with his congratulatory address.

In his welcome speech, Chancellor Augastine introduced a message from a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization that once visited the university, noting that “the point of studying at a university is not merely to earn a degree, but to become a person who can contribute to solving global issues. To this end, you should not only complete the curriculum and pursue your studies, but also nurture a spirit within marked by freedom, justice, compassion, and wisdom during the years spent at the university. Founded by the Jesuits, the mission of Sophia University is guided by the fundamental value of ” putting the most vulnerable first. Along with Sophia’s educational spirit of ‘For Others, With Others,’ I hope that you will make the most of your time at Sophia University.”