TAMIU Student Chapter Earns National Award for ‘Pengyou Day’

A broad range of campus activities celebrating “Pengyou Day,” an awareness of US-China relations at Texas A&M International University , (TAMIU) helped the TAMIU Chapter of Project Pengyou earn a national Second Place Award.

TAMIU Chapter members of Project Pengyou offered activities as part of the University’s recent observation of International Education Week.

The Project Pengyou TAMIU Chapter brought students and faculty together with chopstick races, calligraphy lessons and sharing China experiences in the TAMIU Student Center Rotunda.

“Pengyou Day was an opportunity to share our dreams, goals, knowledge, and aspirations to all students and general public, in an attempt to bring awareness about US-China Relations,”  explained Carlos Diaz, TAMIU Chapter vice president.

The TAMIU observance was part of National Pengyou Day and the “We are all Pengyou” Campaign (“pengyou” means friend in Mandarin). Over 100 campuses nationwide participated in a massive grassroots action celebrating US-China exchange and friendship.  Other award-winning campuses included Medgar Evars College Prep School in Brooklyn, NY, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA.

Holly Chang, Project Pengyou founder, shared the importance of the Project.

“We wanted to dedicate one day of International Education Week to China because of the importance and impact that US-China relations will have on our world,” Chang said, “We hope that this is the first of many campaigns where our campus chapters on the ground can inspire more young people to go to China and stay engaged as an active community of future global leaders.”

Project Pengyou is a flagship program of the Golden Bridges Foundation, backed by funds from the Ford Foundation and the Committee of 100. The initiative seeks to create a critical mass of young Americans who have lived and studied in China. Campus Chapter leaders receive extensive leadership training as Project Pengyou Leadership Fellows and are committed to promoting China study on American campuses.

With over 30 chapters starting simultaneously nationwide, Project Pengyou hopes to foster a new generation of global leaders to harness the extraordinary growth of China and lead a more functional, mutually beneficial and peaceful future between the United States and China.

For more about TAMIU’s Project Pengyou, visit projectpengyou.org/tamiu or follow the group on Facebook. TAMIU is home to over 90 students clubs and organizations and an aggressive Study Abroad and internship program.

Additional information is available from the TAMIU Office of the Associate VP for Student Affairs, International Engagement at 956.326.2565.

The Spring Semester 2015 at TAMIU begins Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu