Upon invitation of the Chinese Consulate General of Chicago, the University of Minnesota hosted the annual U. S. Midwest Chinese Bridge Speech Contest. Organized by the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, with support from College of Liberal Arts, Confucius Institute and Institute of Global Studies, the event brought nearly sixty students from seventeen universities and colleges across the region, including University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Wisconsin, University of Chicago, and Northwestern University. The all-day event included speech and talent contest at six language levels. Judging was organized by Professor Gu Licheng of Northwestern, implementing a double-blind process.
Ling Wang, Director of Chinese Language and her colleagues, especially Chi-ping Li, worked long hours to organize the whole event and to train our students. We were kind and considerate hosts, but also fierce competitors. Our students in ALL secured a majority of the prizes, including eight of twelve first place awards! The day ended with an awards banquet that also featured professional local performers.
Back row (left to right): Peter Williams, Emily Atchison, Joshua Quinn, Alex Renner
Front row (left to right): Anthony Dodge, Grace Polverari, Molly Himsel, Allison Malmsten
Front row (left to right): Anthony Dodge, Grace Polverari, Molly Himsel, Allison Malmsten
