On the afternoon of June 13, An-Lai School successfully held its 2025 Commencement Ceremony and Graduation Exhibition at NWU’s Chang’an Campus.

The event was attended by distinguished guests including NWU Vice President Cao Rong; Girolamo Fiorentino, Special Representative of the Rector of the University of Salento (UniSalento) and Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage; Li Shuqing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Shaanxi History Museum; Li Jianxi, Chief Engineer of Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology; Han Jianwu, Deputy Director of Shaanxi Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage; Liu Wenping, Secretary of the Party Committee of Xi’an Institute of Cultural Heritage Conservation and Archaeology; Wang Rui, Director of the Chang’an School of Painting Art Center; Ma Weimin, Deputy Director of Shaanxi Province Art Museum; Liu Cunliang, General Manager of Xi’an Dingxuan Cultural Heritage Protection Co., Ltd., and Li Hongmei, Deputy General Manager of Xi’an MicroWise System Technology Co., Ltd., along with heads of relevant functional departments and schools of NWU, faculty representatives from both NWU and UniSalento, parent representatives, all faculty and staff members of An-Lai School, the entire Class of 2025 graduates, and student representatives from other grades.

In her address, Cao Rong extended congratulations to all graduating students and offered them three guiding principles: to anchor themselves in cultural soil with the tenacity of resilience, refining professional expertise through temporal accumulation; to courageously push the boundaries of innovation while respecting tradition; and to harness the wisdom of synergy by uniting diverse strengths to foster mutual understanding through civilizational exchange. She emphasized that cultural heritage conservation transcends being merely a profession—it is a sacred mission safeguarding the continuity of human civilization. Encouraging the graduates, she urged them to carry forward NWU’s legacy of responsibility and idealism as they pursue their dreams with courage and add new luster to NWU’s glory in their life journeys ahead.

Professor Fiorentino delivered remarks on behalf of UniSalento, extending his congratulations and sincere wishes to the graduates. He noted that China possesses a long-standing and splendid historical civilization, which has maintained frequent exchanges and continuous integration with Mediterranean countries throughout history. He emphasized that the NWU-UniSalento joint programs stand not only as a milestone in the friendly relations between the two peoples, but more significantly as an exemplary model of productive collaboration in the field of higher education.

Professor Yang Lu of An-Lai School delivered a keynote speech titled “Chronicles of the Class of 2025 Graduates’ Growth”, where he fondly reviewed the development trajectory of the inaugural graduating class and encouraged students to uphold patriotic aspirations, maintain reverential humility, and relentlessly pursue excellence.

Following this, attending leaders and professors jointly activated the graduation exhibition.

During the representative addresses, Professor Ling Xue, Coordinator of NWU Courses, and Professor Grazia Semeraro, UniSal Executive Deputy Dean of An-Lai School, each delivered speeches urging graduates to sustain their passion for learning, embrace humility, continuously broaden their horizons, and strive for distinction. Parent representative Zhang Meng expressed heartfelt gratitude to NWU and An-Lai School, congratulated the graduates on their academic achievements, and wished them dream-filled futures and brilliant prospects while hoping the alma mater would continue cultivating outstanding talents. Pan Yiyun, a 2025 graduate in Cultural Relics Conservation Technology, spoke on behalf of all graduates, nostalgically recounting her four-year journey and expressing how the alma mater had not only provided professional knowledge but also immersed her in NWU’s profound humanistic heritage and nurturing ethos, extending thanks for the school’s cultivation and faculty’s care while wishing the university continued growth and future accomplishments.

During the certificate presentation stage, representatives from five professional internship institutions including Shaanxi History Museum awarded certificates of Comprehensive Professional Internship to graduate representatives. Professor Semeraro, on behalf of the UniSalento, conferred degree certificates from University of Salento to each graduate in sequence, while professor Fiorentino read aloud the official degree conferment address from the University of Salento.

Representatives from relevant institutions jointly presented commemorative graduation gifts to student delegates, embodying the alma mater’s heartfelt wishes for the graduates.

Following the commencement ceremony, attending guests visited the Class of 2025 Graduation Exhibition. The exhibition comprehensively showcased students’ academic and practical achievements across multiple specialized fields including cultural relic material analysis, artifact restoration, and traditional painting-calligraphy creation, vividly demonstrating An-Lai School’s educational outcomes under the Chinese-Italian dual-education mechanism.

To date, among An-Lai School’s 57 graduates, 15 have been admitted to overseas institutions including the University of Cambridge and University College London, while 12 will pursue further studies at domestic universities such as the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fudan University and Xi’an Jiaotong University, achieving an overall employment rate approaching 80%. As the inaugural graduating cohort, these students bear the distinctive imprint of East-West integrated education, equipped with interdisciplinary thinking and global perspectives. Equipped with the dual principles of conserve as found and preventive care, they will tackle modern heritage conservation challenges while preserving their unique professional ethos.