Under the motto 20 Years Truly International, Group T Campus's international graduates gathered in Leuven for the first time on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Over a hundred and twenty of them accepted the invitation and returned to the place where they shared their lives and took a decisive turn.
Wim Polet, Director International Office
International alumni reunions are not a novelty for our campus. Before the pandemic, we organized almost annual meetings in China and Thailand for local Group T graduates. In Beijing, we co-founded the university-wide Alumni Chapter run by a Group T alumnus. The 60th anniversary of the campus was a good opportunity to call together the alumni who (still) reside in Belgium and, by extension, in Europe. On top of that, twenty years ago at the then Group T university college, internationalization started in, with, and from China.
The extensive internationalisation, with the English-language engineering programmes as the crown jewel, has done the campus no harm. Over one third of the 2400 students are currently from abroad. Together, they represent 81 nationalities.
By way of comparison: at KU Leuven, the international share of the total student population is 18%. Parallel to the growing inflow from abroad, the number of international alumni has also steadily increased to over a thousand. The vast majority make a career abroad. About one in five chose to stay in Belgium or neighbouring countries. Almost half of this group was present at the first reunion in Leuven on 21 May.
On the campus, the guests were welcomed by a Chinese student representative and a Flemish student in the international engineering programme. Sun Zhibin and Jan Vander Velpen gave striking testimonials. Zhibin was one of the pioneers who came to study at Group T in 2001. Jan took part in the first study trip of third-year students to China in 2000 and met his wife there.
On behalf of Beijing Jiaotong University, one of Group T's first partner universities in China, Vice Rector Prof. Guan Zhongliang expressed his appreciation for the years of cooperation. He extensively congratulated the 250 students who left his university for Leuven in the past twenty years. Campus president Prof. Wim Dewulf concluded the academic part with an overview of
On the occasion of '20 Years Truly International', a retrospective exhibition was opened with images of the international highlights of the past two decades.
On August 24th 2019 the KU Leuven Alumni Chapter Beijing was officially installed in the Chinese capital. The next day there was already a first important event: the 20th anniversary of the Double Degree Programme in Engineering Technology of KU Leuven and Beijing Jiaotong University. Both ceremonies were the crowning glory of a quarter-century collaboration between both universities.
In 2013, KU Leuven established its first international Alumni Chapter in Shanghai. Today the university has alumni chapters in 12 countries: Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, the Netherlands, Vietnam, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Vice Rector Prof. Peter Lievens
These chapters are an important asset for KU Leuven.
Internationalization is very high on the KU Leuven agenda. Two key aspects of our strategy are recruiting more students from abroad and promoting international mobility of our students, staff and researchers. As more KU Leuven alumni go on to build international careers we strengthen our global network
This is where the international alumni chapters come in. They create opportunities for our alumni to connect with each other and constitute a direct link with our alma mater in Leuven.
We also call upon the chapters for cooperation, student recruitment, academic diplomacy and to establish links with potential partner universities and local organizations. We send newsletters, organize alumni gatherings and trips and invite alumni to join us for educational fairs and promotion activities in their county. We also reach out to honorary doctors and former visiting scholars because they are members of the large KU Leuven community as well.
Together with the alumni they are our best ambassadors abroad.
In 2000 the first six Chinese students graduated from the then University College Group T in Leuven. They started their engineering studies at Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) and came after one year to Leuven to complete their studies. They were the first to obtain a Double (Flemish-Chinese) Degree in Engineering Technology. Meanwhile, more than 300 students from over than a dozen Chinese universities have followed in their footsteps.
During the memorial ceremony, Professor Guan Zhongliang, Vice President of BJTU, emphasized the importance of the double degree programmes for the universities involved.
Vice Rector Prof. Guan Zhongliang
The past 20 years have flown by, but we are determined to continue this momentum. The new KU Leuven Alumni Chapter Beijing will help to ensure that the informal network of alumni that already exists will help really come to the fore by playing an active role in the further development of the collaboration and the friendship between our universities.
In his speech Vice President Guan announced a scoop. BJTU is planning to set up its own European Alumni Association with Belgium as the hub and KU Leuven as the center.
Professor Lievens immediately accepted the proposal and promised the initiative full support.
Vice Rector Prof. Peter Lievens
It is yet another proof that we are on the right track with our Truly International Strategy.
Picture from left to right
Prof. Deng Xinghua; Prof. Koen Eneman, Campus Chair; Martine Torfs, Head of the Alumni Office KU Leuven; Prof. Peter Lievens, Vice rector of KU Leuven; Prof. Guan Zhongliang, Vice President BJTU; Wim Polet, Director International Office Group T Campus; Prof. Zhu Hengjun; Liu Shaoqing, Director of the Center of International Education BJTU; Guo Xuemeng, Secretary General of the BJTU Alumni Association;
