History
Initiated by students at Cornell University in 2008, the Ivy Council established a partnership with the All-China Students’ Federation (ACSF) in order to strengthen the relationship between American and Chinese student leaders. To launch the exchange, an Ivy League delegation of student body presidents and Ivy Council leaders visited Beijing, Wuhan, and Shanghai during the summer of 2008. In reciprocation, the Ivy Council hosted a delegation of student body presidents from China’s top institutions in the United States in 2009. These two exchanges henceforth became known as the Ivy Council’s Ivy-China Summit and Ivy-China U.S. Invitational. In both the United States and China, visiting student delegations participate in student discussions, meet business and government leaders, gain new perspectives, and establish lifelong friendships.
The Ivy Council’s holds three objectives in its involvement with China: (1) To establish a platform of discussion and exchange between student leaders at Ivy League schools and their Chinese counterparts. (2) Provide a glimpse of society, politics, business, culture, and university life in one country to student in the other. (3) Introduce students on both sides of the exchange to new and differing perspectives.
In 2010, the Ivy Council not only continued its partnership with the ACSF, with a second Ivy-China Summit and Ivy-China U.S. in 2010-2011, but also expanded its program by sending another Ivy League delegation to Wuhan to attend the first Wuhan University International Exchange Camp of Student Organizations.
The Ivy Council aims to make Ivy-China continuous and sustainable, fostering strong international relations from an early stage.
Ivy-China Summit in Beijing
Ivy-China Summit is a component of the annual Ivy-China Exchange. The ACSF invites all Ivy League student body presidents and Ivy Council leaders on a diplomatic visit during the summer to Beijing and surrounding cities.
U.S. Invitational
The Ivy-China U.S. Invitational is the second component of the Ivy-China Exchange, in which the Ivy Council hosts a group of Chinese student leaders. This conference aims to build upon the mission of strengthening U.S.-China relations at an early stage.
Wuhan Exchange
During the summer, the Ivy Council additionally sends a delegation of student to attend the Wuhan University International Exchange Camp of Student Organizations to engage in discussions about the organization and management of student groups.