Monday, May 7, 2012

Chinese writer, SSU grad, to speak at UIS graduation

Wenguang Huang, a Chicago-based journalist, writer and translator, says he owes a lot to Springfield, the first place in America he landed after he left China in 1990.

He’s going to return some hospitality by speaking at the University of Illinois Springfield commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. May 12 at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.

Huang grew up in northern China and obtained his bachelor’s degree in English literature and master’s degree in journalism from Fudan University in Shanghai. He participated in the student pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and shortly thereafter left his home for Springfield.

“I wasn’t a student leader, just a participant,” he said. “But many felt it was becoming oppressive in China.

Huang was featured in an May 7, 2012, article in The State Journal-Register.

Read the article online