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KEANmag
As enrollment and academic offerings expand, the 500-acre campus is
changing; sprouting new buildings and spaces for students to learn, live,
and socialize. A new home for the Global Business School is currently
under construction, and will soon be added to the list of existing
academic buildings, dormitories, and dining halls. Over the next two
to three years, the campus will grow exponentially, with additions
including; the Michael Graves College (housing architecture, design
and computer science programs), a new Student Learning and Activities
Center, an Administration Building, faculty housing, athletics facilities,
new academic buildings, and more residence halls. “It is a Western-style
campus, which means the spaces between the buildings are critically
important – courtyards, quadrangles, lawns and greens,” said David
Mohney, FAIA, Dean of Michael Graves College, who is overseeing the
physical expansion of the WKU campus. “There is an integration of
different points of view into a larger whole, creating a unified identity
for the University.”
The campus design also draws on the local landscape. WKU is ringed on
three sides by low mountains, and water from their peaks feeds a lake at
the center of the campus. Future plans include a small-scale commercial
and residential canal town with a water taxi connecting the campus
to downtown Wenzhou. In a separate project, the city of Wenzhou is
developing Kean Town, a university town nearby.
In the four years since opening its doors, Wenzhou-Kean has seen rapid
growth and many changes, with more in the works. However, the core
principles on which the University was founded have remained constant.
One of them is academic freedom, something that Jin Ningtong, WKU
valedictorian, considers central to student achievement.
“At WKU, we are taught to challenge the norms and rules, criticize
the commonplace, and bring up our own ideas,” she said in her
commencement address. “I want to thank the leadership that allows the
existence of different voices without suppressing dissent or complaints.
Critical thinking grants us more freedom and a chance to improve the
University.”
The success of WKU’s students is undeniable. Two-thirds of the Class of
2016 is pursuing advanced degrees this fall, with 20 students attending
graduate school at Kean University to study business, finance, computer
science, and education. Others students have enrolled at other
prestigious universities in the U.S. and around the world, including
Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and University College London.
Graduates who headed directly into the workforce are employed at top-
ranking Chinese finance and accounting institutions including Bank of
Ningbo, Bank of Ruifeng, and Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau.
Kean University is the only public university in the U.S. with a campus
in China, creating a unique opportunity for WKU and Kean students
to build cultural ties as they prepare to compete in a global economy.
The significance of the cross-cultural experience at the University was
underscored at the inaugural commencement by Hanscom Smith,
Consul General for the Consulate General of the United States of America
in Shanghai.
“The relationship between the U.S. and China is the most consequential
in the world,” he said. “The bonds that you have formed during your
time here will make our partnership stronger.”
