{"id":25480,"date":"2015-04-10T13:59:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T04:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/top\/en\/?p=25480"},"modified":"2015-04-15T11:33:41","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T02:33:41","slug":"2015-entrance-ceremonies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/top\/en\/news\/25480","title":{"rendered":"2015 Entrance ceremonies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Waseda University’s 2015 entrance ceremonies were held on April 1-2.<\/p>\n

9,878 undergraduates were inaugurated at this year’s ceremonies, including those admitted in Fall 2014. Among the undergraduates were 486 international students. 2,868 graduate students were inaugurated.<\/p>\n

The ceremonies were conducted at Memorial Hall which was built in 1957 to commemorate Waseda Universitiy’s 75th anniversary and used as a venue for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics fencing competition. Memorial Hall will undergo reconstruction in the summer, making this ceremony the last for the current Memorial Hall.<\/p>\n

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At the second ceremony, Leo Melamed<\/a> was awarded an honorary degree<\/a> following a speech from President Kamata. At the fourth ceremony, Olympic wrestler and winner of gold medals at the Tokyo and Mexico Olympics, Yojiro Uetake<\/a>, delivered a speech after being awarded the Award for Distinguished Service to Sports.<\/p>\n

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At the first and third ceremonies, alumni Akio Miyajima<\/a> (Tokyo Secretary of Foreign Affairs) and Makiko Eda<\/a> (President of Intel Japan) delivered congratulatory addresses to newly admitted students.<\/p>\n

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Waseda University’s Teaching Award<\/a> and Research Award<\/a> were presented at the ceremonies as part of Waseda Vision 150.<\/p>\n

At the end of the ceremonies, new students performed in unison the university anthem they had only recently memorized.<\/p>\n

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About Leo Melamed<\/h5>\n

During World War II, Melamed was one of some 6000 Jews who escaped Nazi persecution in Europe thanks to a life-saving visa issued by Japanese diplomat and Waseda graduate Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986). As Japan\u2019s vice consul in Lithuania, Sugihara is credited with saving thousands by issuing transit visas, against prevailing Ministry policy, allowing them to escape advancing Nazi oppression.<\/p>\n

After transiting through Japan, Melamed settled in the United States, later becoming a leader in global finance as head of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange<\/a>. He is credited with creating the world\u2019s first financial futures products and the first electronic trading system.<\/p>\n