Dear students who enrolled in the 2020 academic year,
A year is about to pass since you all began your life as Keio students. From the perspective of preventing the spread of COVID-19, in the 2020 academic year, we were forced to temporarily close our campuses during the Spring Semester and classes were switched entirely to an online format. Although some in-person classes on campus were resumed in the Fall Semester, restrictions were still placed on Athletic Association and club activities, and opportunities for you to be fully immersed in the real-life on-campus learning experience were few and far between. Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of Keio University, rendered the English word "society" as jinkan kosai in Japanese, which means social interactions and relationships with others, and cherished bonds and relationships that develop between people. This is a tradition that we hold very dear at Keio so it is very upsetting and disappointing that you have been unable to spend time on campus interacting with faculty members and forging new friendships with fellow students. And instead of being able to truly enjoy and get the most out of your life as students, I am sure that there have been times when you went through a range of mixed emotions overshadowed by feelings of isolation, anxiety, or frustration.
Thus, with the hope of raising your spirits even for a moment, we would like to invite you all to a special in-person event in the Spring Semester of the 2021 academic year at Hiyoshi Campus, where the entrance ceremony is normally held. While thoroughly implementing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we would love to officially welcome you to the Keio community and introduce you to the academic traditions of Keio University. Although this event is intended for students who enrolled in the 2020 academic year, taking into consideration those students who will not be able to join in person for various reasons as well as to allow as many Keio students as possible to participate, we are also planning to stream it online.
Keio University is a seat of learning that is celebrating its 163rd anniversary this year. As a comprehensive university with 10 undergraduate faculties, 14 graduate schools, and a diverse spectrum of research institutes and centers, we have outstanding faculty members actively conducting research day and night in a wide variety of academic fields, including those in the arts and sciences, those that are considered traditional and advanced, and those that integrate some or all of these disciplines.
For those of you who are still in the early days of your studies at Keio University, I hope that this event will foster your understanding of the founding philosophies of Keio which we place great value on, and help you realize your potential to make great leaps in life through your studies at Keio University.