J. F. Oberlin University welcomes 2,275 new students
Apr 10, 2017
J. F. Oberlin University’s spring entrance ceremony was held on April 4 at Tokyo International Forum, in Yurakucho, Tokyo. A total of 2,275 students entered the university and graduate school, and with a large audience of their parents looking on, Gaku Masubuchi, a first-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences, took the stage to deliver the new students’ pledge.
University President Takayasu Mitani welcomed the new members of the Obiriner community and told them about “Gakujijijin,” the motto of J. F. Oberlin’s founder, Reverend Yasuzo Shimizu. President Mitani stressed the following points in his address to the students:
• Reverend Shimizu’s philosophy was that education is not something you receive for your own benefit but for the benefit of the people around you and of society as a whole. The faculty and staff of J. F. Oberlin University take great pride in this ideal.
• Since its founding, J. F. Oberlin University has consistently aimed to produce graduates who can work toward world peace.
• Studying at a Christian university, students should not simply try to understand modern society but should try to understand it from a Christian perspective.
• During the four years of their university careers, students should strive to improve themselves by studying a wide range of subjects.
• Students should make the most of every day of their university careers so that when they graduate four years from now, they will feel not only that J. F. Oberlin University changed them but that they changed J. F. Oberlin University.
After the first part of the entrance ceremony came a second part, organized by student volunteers. It included motivational speeches from two students as well as performances by the university’s cheerleaders, Obirin Dancing Company, the cheer dance team, and the University Wind Orchestra.