Our visit to Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University was wonderful. After looking at glossy images in brochures and Rob Garris’s Power Point slides for years, setting foot on the campus confirmed the reality of the program and felt oddly like dream fulfillment. After a quick tour of the College, led by scholars who shared tidbits about life at Schwarzman, Rob made an abbreviated presentation. He shared new information about how the program has evolved now that it is a living campus and has an alumni class.
Some important points: the alumni asked for new educational opportunities post-scholarship, so the program established alumni retreats focused on the core foci of the program--leadership and China’s role in the world. The scholars have also insisted that the central programmatic mission inform all programming and curricular choices. For example, it is not enough to invite a super famous person to Schwarzman College, the guest speakers and teachers must align with the goals of furthering an understanding of leadership and the role of China in the 21st century global economy.
We also heard from the Dean of International Students at Tsinghua University and learned of its 110-year history. Tsinghua has 45,000 students, 10% of whom are international. They are particularly strong in engineering and STEM fields, and it was fun and potentially empowering as advisors to learn that tuition for international students is $5,000 and that housing is $100 per academic year.
We had a delicious lunch in the student canteen in the college, served by chefs with very tall white hats. Originally scheduled to be with several current Schwarzman Scholars, we were surprised when Steve Schwarzman himself, who had just arrived for the Schwarzman College Advisory Council meeting, entered the room.
In a private audience with Study Tour NAFAns and a few Schwarzman Scholars, Mr. Schwarzman spoke of the strong influence that the students have had in shaping the program and its development, including establishing a student government structure and sports teams that have competed and won championships against peer teams at Tsinghua University. He also spoke of himself as, “the first Schwarzman Scholar,” one unafraid to reach out and speak to Chinese educational and business leaders, stressing the need for cross-cultural dialogue and shared global problem solving.
The thing that impressed us most was the approachability and access in intimate settings that Schwarzman Scholars are afforded during their time in China. The direct access to leaders at the local, regional and national levels allows unprecedented opportunities to learn and grow as future global leaders. Scholars are living, studying, and in their deep dives working very closely with influential individuals in China and around the world who come to Schwarzman college or meet with Scholars in the country.
