Mandarin Efforts Internationally Recognized
The Confucius Institute at SDSU was one of only 30 worldwide to receive the honor.
Of 330 Confucius Institutes in 84 countries, San Diego State University’s institute was one of 30 worldwide and five in the United States to be honored with the Confucius Institute of the Year Award. The awards were presented during the fifth annual Confucius Institute Conference held in Beijing, China, last month.
SDSU delegation
Provost Nancy Marlin, College of Arts and Letters Dean Paul Wong, Professor Yuxiu Chen and SDSU Confucius Institute Managing Director Lilly Cheng represented SDSU at the three-day event held at the China National Convention Center.
The Confucius Institute at San Diego State University was recognized as a Confucius Institute of the Year for its excellent performance in promoting Chinese language and culture in Southern California. The award was collected by Cheng at the conference opening ceremony.
The Confucius Classroom student, Edmund “Eddie” Kapelczak, from San Diego's Barnard Mandarin Magnet School, was the youngest performer in the evening performance.
More than 3,000 people, including dignitaries from foreign embassies, senior government officials and presidents from universities around the world attended the opening ceremony and the conference.
On Dec. 11, Marlin presented at the President's Forum and Cheng presented at the Director's Forum.
Other activities
Confucius Classroom student, Edmund “Eddie” Kapelczak, from San Diego’s Barnard Mandarin Magnet School, was the youngest performer in an evening performance.
Two well-known Chinese scholars, Tu Weiming and Chang Hsin Kang, were keynote speakers at the evening banquet. Delegates from more than 300 Confucius Institutes were in attendance at the conference.
About the Confucius Institute at SDSU
The Confucius Institute (CI) at San Diego State University was established in collaboration with the Office of Chinese Language International Council (Hanban). With the collaboration of Xiamen University in China, the CI at SDSU has worked with local public schools and districts for establishing Mandarin programs since 2009.
So far, there are seven local schools recognized as Confucius Classroom schools in San Diego. The institute also supports the Mandarin courses at SDSU and initiated the Mandarin programs at the SDSU Imperial Valley Campus in fall 2010.
