Fourteen Students at Texas Southern University Won the Confucius Institute “Star of Mandarin” Award

March 28th , 2018

Texas Southern University Confucius Institute decided to reward students who had studied Chinese for more than two semesters, at the Third Council of Texas Southern University Confucius Insitute in the morning of March 28th. The directors of Texas Southern University Confucius Institute, Dr. Roger Hart and Dr. Xiao Yi, the vice president of Beijing Jiaotong University, Dr. Zhongliang Guan, the director of International Affairs, Dr. Gregory H. Maddox and the TSUCI director assistant, Mr. Bryant Chambliss were present at the prize-awarding ceremony.

Since its establishment, Texas Southern University Confucius Institute has always attached great importance to the construction of university credit courses and the sustainable development of the curriculum. College students studying Chinese are growing at a rate of 10% every year. In order to motivate students to work harder and maintain enthusiasm for learning Chinese, Chinese language professors Ms. Xiaobin Hu and Ms. Lina Fa proposed awards for students who have achieved outstanding performances in Chinese learning. With the support of Dr. Roger Hart and Dr. Xiao Yi, decisions were made to select and award students who are currently learning Chinese based on the principles of fairness and openness.

This year, 14 students from different majors at Texas Southern University were awarded the " Mandarin Star of the First Confucius Institute Cup " and traditional Chinese “Red Envelope (红包)” with the “Lucky Money” varying from $70 to $120. The first prize was awarded to students who have studied Chinese for three semesters. The second prize was awarded to students who have studied Chinese for two semesters. The one and only "honorable mention" was awarded to the outstanding graduate Curry Stephanie J. Curry. She studied very hard and passed the HSK Level 2 exam in just one semester. She took courses in Chinese painting and calligraphy. Last summer she attached a summer abroad camp in China where she was exposed to Chinese culture first hand and grew to love it even more. As a graduate of the Confucius Institute, she will go to Beijing to teach English this fall.

Guan Zhongliang, the vice president of Beijing Jiaotong University, and Gregory H Maddox, Dean of Graduate School, Director of the International Affairs, Texas Southern University, presented the awards to the winning students and expressed their heartfelt congratulations to the winning students.Flores Michael, who majored in History, won the 2017 “The People To People” award issued by Confucius Institute U.S. Center in recognition of Building Language and Cultural Bridges. He was especially interested in Chinese history and minored in Chinese. He made a speech on behalf of all winning students in Chinese, in which he pointed out that learning Chinese changed his situation, and also the Confucius Institute made him feel safe and at home. He thanked the leaders and teachers of the Confucius Institute for their efforts. He is proud of learning Chinese and intends to go to China to teach after graduation.Texas Southern University Confucius Institute will continue its efforts to encourage more college students to learn Mandarin Chinese and makes Chinese language courses more sustainable in the university curriculum.