Student Wins Chinese Language Immersion Scholarship
University of Scranton student Alex Chan ’23, Wilkes-Barre, received a 2022 Huayu Enrichment Chinese Language Immersion Scholarship to study at Fu Jen Catholic University, a Jesuit university in Taipei, Taiwan. From left are: Shuhua Fan, Ph.D., professor of history at Scranton; Joyce Cheng, Alex Chan’s mother; Alex Chan; and Ann Pang-White, Ph.D., director of Asian Studies and professor of philosophy at Scranton.University of Scranton student, Alex Chan ’23, Wilkes-Barre, was awarded a 2022 Huayu Enrichment Chinese Language Immersion Scholarship from the Education Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York. The scholarship will allow him to study at Fu Jen Catholic University, a Jesuit university in Taipei, Taiwan, during the summer.
The scholarship was established in 2005 by Ministry of Education of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to encourage international students and individuals to study the Mandarin Chinese language in Taiwan.
A dean’s list student at Scranton, Chan is a neuroscience major with a concentration in Asian studies and a member of the University’s undergraduate Honors Program. He was inducted to the University’s Asian Studies Honor Society.
Chan is a graduate of Holy Redeemer High School.
Chan is the second Scranton student to be awarded the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship since 2020. Mary-Katherine Cotter ’22, Massapequa, New York, received the scholarship in 2021.
With support from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, the University has strengthened its Chinese language program and hosted numerous events that showcase and educate members of the University and greater Scranton community about Taiwanese culture. During the past decade, the University has hosted a Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company performance of an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice;” the Taiwanese Film and Cultural Festival; and performances by the Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company and the Chai Found Music Workshop, among other enrichment and educational events.
In 2012, the University was formally presented with the Kinmen Peace Bell Replica by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York in recognition of the cordial relationship and collaboration between the University and the various government agencies and universities of Taiwan. The Peace Bell, engraved with the word “peace” in more than 100 languages, can be seen in the atrium of the Loyola Science Center.
