ご挨拶 - AIU Festival 2023

学長　モンテ・カセム

President Monte Cassim

I, as the president, am proud that this year marks the memorable 20th AIUfestival.
I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of AIU, to express our gratitude for continued cooperation, especially for the local people. Having a residential student community, this event is a culmination of the human interactions that AIU strives to foster. It is the spirit upon which our liberal arts education is founded. The very act of successfully planning and executing the enjoyable program of events at the AIU Festival by our students reflects the principles of our university-wide pedagogic initiative, AILA, which stands for Applied International Liberal Arts. It seeks to bring together profound thought, caring for others and experiencing the trials and joys of realizing one’s ideas and plans.
I thank the student organizers of the AIU Festival for the exciting program they have come up with. I am expecting that the AIU festival, besides your daily duty, will become fruitful as a result from your exertion.
Thank you very much. Monte Cassim, President Fall, 2023

第20回AIU祭実行委員長　榎木勇斗

AIU Festival Committee 20th President Yuto Enoki

Hi, I am Yuto Enoki, the head of the 20th AIU Festival. Since its establishment in 2004, AIU has been attracting huge attention for its many unique features and leading Japan's globalization for the past 20 years. The AIU Festival has been held as an opportunity to promote and spread AIU to the outside world from the very beginning. This year's theme is "Open New Hori20ns 〜Move out of your 20ne〜." While cherishing the history of AIU, we should not live in the past glory. We are going to make the AIU festival a turning point for students, faculty and staff members, local residents, and all other members of the community to be open-minded and try something new more than ever. Thanks to the current COVID-19 situation calming down, we have prepared to allow more people to enjoy the AIU Festival "on-site" this year than last year. We will also continue to broadcast the events, as we did last year so that those who are unable to visit the festival can also enjoy it. Thank you very much for joining us today, and we hope you enjoy the AIU Festival!

学生会会長　呉本汎奈

President of Student Government Hanna Kuremoto

Finally, this year is the AIU festival’s 20th anniversary! I am delighted and filled with gratitude. As you can see from the theme of the 20th AIU festival, “Open New Hori20ns,” we, AIU scholars, try something new and beyond our own limitations every single day. Such challengers have created this year’s AIU festival, which is why I am sure the AIU festival this year would be the best, and I would like as many people as possible to enjoy and feel the theme of this year’s AIU festival. Let’s “open a new horizon” together! Lastly, I would like to appreciate all the generous support from everyone for opening this festival. Now, the 20th AIU festival finally begins!

河辺雄和商工会会長　　齊藤　善悦

Chairman of Kawabe Yuwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Zenetsu Saito

AIU Festival 2023, Akita International University, is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Likewise, the Kawabe Yuwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also approaching its 20th anniversary. Akita International University has become a leading university in Japan that many students aspire to attend and is recognized around the world. Under the leadership of President Monte CASSIM, who has been committed to "nurturing unique scholars through education that can only be offered here," students who have ventured to this campus far from the city are encouraged to break out of their shells by stimulating each other and engaging in friendly rivalry. This is the "AIU SPIRIT" that has been alive and well in our students since the founding of AIU. The slogan of this year's AIU Festival, "Open New Horizons" ~Move out of your zone~ is meant to express the students' desire to challenge something new in this 20th anniversary year. I am excited about Haruka-chan, who was created to promote Akita Prefecture and AIU, as well as the performance by the special guest REGSTYLE. At the AIU Festival, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been linked for many years as an industry-academic exchange festival.The AIU Festival has long been associated with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry as an industry-academia exchange festival, and I was honored to be invited to open the AIU Festival. I have an unforgettable memory of performing the guitar with Mineo Nakajima, the first president of AIU, at the opening ceremony of the AIU Festival. I hope that you will have a memorable and fulfilling time at this campus, which has a history of the Tsubaki Dai Castle built by the Satake branch of the Akita clan at the end of the Edo period (1603-1868). I would like to conclude my remarks by wishing Akita International University continued growth and prosperity, as well as the blooming of a great flower in your lives.

GREETINGS

学長 モンテ・カセム