Celebrating Excellence: The Greater China Scholars Weekend 2025
On March 15, 2025, amidst a snowstorm in Beijing, Notre Dame Global (NDG), Notre Dame Hong Kong, and Notre Dame Beijing successfully hosted the Greater China Scholars Weekend 2025 at the ND Beijing office. After five years of being virtual, this year marked the event’s exciting return to an in-person gathering.
The event welcomed sixteen finalists and their parents from 11 cities and 16 schools—including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Selected for their exceptional academic achievement, strong commitment to the betterment of society, and promising capacity for global leadership, these students represent the very best of Greater China’s rising generation. Altogether, 110 attendees participated in this event—from current ND students to alumni and faculty members to local high school counselors and benefactors. Despite the challenging weather, the well-attended gathering symbolized the commitment to education and enthusiasm for Notre Dame.
“GCS 2025 celebrates its 14-year history as the largest gathering at Notre Dame Beijing since 2019,” Notre Dame Beijing Director Jingyu Wang shares. “Throughout organizing this event, I saw the unity of the Notre Dame community and the ND spirit growing locally. ND Beijing, ND alumni, and parents will continue this mission, spreading faith, service, and solidarity, planting seeds of ‘Life, Sweetness, Hope.’”
Translated from the Latin words “Vita, Dulcedo, Spes” that represent the traditional Catholic prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the theme of “Life, Sweetness, and Hope” was also incorporated into a session during the event that ND Beijing planned in collaboration with the McDonald Center for Student Well-Being.
Senior Director of Global Education Hong Zhu leads paneldiscussion on "Why Notre Dame?"
Michael Pippenger delivers the keynote address.
NDG Vice President & Associate Provost for Internationalization Michael Pippenger served as the keynote speaker at the celebration dinner. His presence at this event emphasized the value of the Greater China Scholars program to NDG and the University’s global strategy as a whole.
This year’s Greater China Scholars Weekend contributed to one of the highest yield rates in the program’s history, with 12 out of 19 finalists confirming their enrollment at Notre Dame. Andrew Li, a Huang Family Scholar from Tsinghua International School in Beijing, who will be attending Notre Dame in the fall, shared:
“The GCS Weekend was such a heartwarming experience. The staff, alumni, scholars, parents... everyone was so welcoming and truly made Notre Dame feel like family to me. I am incredibly honored to be a GCS scholar and thrilled to join this wonderful community!”
The event's return to an in-person format fostered meaningful connections and a strong sense of belonging, while Notre Dame’s newly implemented need-blind admission policy and the inclusive financial aid commitment to international students made it possible for students from diverse backgrounds to say yes. The Greater China Scholars Program not only showcased the strength of the Notre Dame Chinese community but also reaffirmed Notre Dame’s mission to attract and support global leaders of tomorrow.
