A total of 2,209 new students in the undergraduate division, the graduate division, and the Confucius Institute have enrolled for the 2014–2015 academic year and the entrance ceremony was held at Tokyo International Forum on April 7th. Ryusuke Moriya from the College of Health and Welfare took an oath at the ceremony on behalf of all the new students.

President Mitani then welcomed the new students. In his address, he explained that the school’s motto, gakuji jijin, means learning for others’ sake, and he talked about the school’s founder, Reverend Yasuzo Shimizu, and Shimizu’s life. President Mitani continued, “I hope all of you will become real Oberliners with the spirit of gakuji jijin: that you will use your abilities to contribute to society, using J. F. Oberlin University’s resources fully.”

Immediately after the ceremony there was a student-organized event called “Kikkake Stage,” designed to give extra motivation to the new students as they begin their university careers. A total of 130 students helped to conduct this event. On the stage, the cheerleading club, the song leading club, and other students performed a welcome dance. A “kikkake movie” showed current students and graduates talking about the challenges in their school days, and Takumi Akaike from the College of Arts and Sciences made a motivational speech. The new students wrote comments about their goals on “kikkake cards” at the end of the event. These cards will be posted on a board on Machida Campus in the middle of April.