In the evening of November 8, an online ceremony was held in the auditorium of the Complex Building at the Xueyuanlu Campus of China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL). At the ceremony, CUPL conferred an honorary doctoral degree in law to Professor Guy Lefebvre, Honorary Professor and former Vice President of University of Montreal, Canada. Prof. Lefebvre, Ms. Marie-Claude Rigaud, Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec, CUPL President Ma Huaide, Vice President Shi Jianzhong, and Vice President Chang Baoguo attended the ceremony. Shi Jianzhong presided over the ceremony.
First, Chang Baoguo read out The Announcement of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council to Confer Honorary Doctoral Degree to Professor Guy Lefebvre and The Decision of the Academic Degrees Evaluation Committee of CUPL to Confer Honorary Doctoral Degree to Professor Guy Lefebvre. He also introduced Prof. Lefebvre’s biography and main contributions.
Later, Marie-Claude Rigaud, as special guest speaker, and Cheng Jialu, an outstanding undergraduate graduate of Class 2015 of the School of International Law as student representative, delivered speeches.
Prof. Lefebvre stated that he loved China very much. CUPL was the greatest institute for legal education in China and served as an important base for the cultivation of legal talents. He expressed in his speech that he felt deeply honored and proud to receive an honorary doctoral degree in law from CUPL. He mentioned that based on the close cooperation with CUPL, University of Montreal had established ties with other famous universities and institutions in China. It has promoted the improvement of China-Canada relations as well as mutual understanding and inclusiveness between the youth of the two countries. Prof. Lefebvre expressed his gratitude to CUPL for awarding him the degree. He said that it was an honor to be a member of CUPL and he would continue to do his best to push forward the cooperation between the two universities and the two countries!
At the end of the ceremony, President Ma Huaide expressed his sincere congratulations to Prof. Lefebvre on behalf of CUPL. He stated that CUPL had already awarded more than 3,000 doctoral degrees since its foundation, including six honorary doctoral degrees, and that Prof. Lefebvre was the seventh recipient as well as the first foreign recipient of an honorary doctoral degree from CUPL. He pointed out that the honorary doctoral degree was awarded to Prof. Lefebvre for the following three reasons. First, he was a renowned jurist in both countries. His research focused on International Commercial Law and Transportation Law, and he had published many monographs and articles. Besides, he had received many honors, such as the prestigious Paul-André Crépeau Award from the Law Society of Canada, guest professor or honorary professor of nine universities in China, France, and Canada, Tenured Honorary Lawyer in Quebec. Second, Prof. Lefebvre was a diligent and outstanding educator. He had promoted cooperation in higher education between China and Canada. He had also advanced extensive cooperation and communication between the two universities in multiple fields, including short-term programs, student exchanges programs, talents cultivation for international organizations, joint programs for doctoral students, international conferences, and joint research institutes. What’s more, “The Summer Program in Chinese Law”, co-sponsored by CUPL and University of Montreal, had become one of the largest and most influential exchange programs between the two countries. Third, Prof. Lefebvre had been dedicated to promoting China-Canada friendly relations. He had visited CUPL more than 20 times and was the most frequent visitor among all the leaders of our partner universities. He had promoted China-Canada academic cooperation and exchanges, helped University of Montreal establish cooperative relations with more than 50 Chinese universities and institutions, such as Tsinghua University, CUPL, and the China Scholarship Council. He also actively assisted those who had won the Chinese Government Scholarship and the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship to further their studies in each other's countries. CUPL President Ma Huaide asserted that Prof. Lefebvre had built a bridge of friendship between China and Canada. He hoped that more visionary people, like Prof. Lefebvre, would actively promote higher education cooperation and cultural exchanges between the China and Canada for further advancing education, mutual understanding and mutual support between the two countries.
