Duke Kunshan University Welcomes Its Largest Class Ever
Nearly 500 students come from 38 countries, including 55 from the United States
The Class of 2028 is comprised of 349 Chinese and 141 international students from 38 countries including Germany, New Zealand, Morocco, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Mongolia and several other countries across five continents. For the first time, students from the Czech Republic, Israel, Latvia and Trinidad and Tobago have joined the DKU student body.
Nearly 10,000 students from 123 countries applied for admission.
Emberleigh Pauley-Brown, one of the students featured in our series on new Devils, is another of the DKU students from the United States. She said she was won over by how welcoming everyone has been.
“Everyone has been kind and willing to help and wanting to get to know you,” Pauley-Brown said. And while she’s done some research about China, “I am excited to learn more about the Lunar New Year and traditional customs.”
DKU Chancellor Yaolin Liu also was among those speaking at the convocation. He said more than 80 percent of DKU’s undergraduate students continued their studies in graduate programs at the world's best universities.
“Thanks to the efforts of those pioneering students and the many others who stand behind them, DKU has established itself as one of the best global universities,” Liu told the crowd. “Duke Kunshan strives to prepare future global leaders who are both globally conscious and deeply rooted in their own cultures.”
In a recorded message, Duke University Provost and DKU Board of Trustees Chair Alec D. Gallimore encouraged students to take advantage of the next four years “and to continue to step outside of your comfort zones, to learn from each other, to challenge your assumptions and to always think about applying what you are learning in new and different ways.”