Today, CUHK is organised into nine constituent colleges and eight academic faculties. Though the original University Charter stipulates Chinese as the principal language,[4] English is currently the main medium of instruction, with Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese being retained by a minority of colleges and departments only.[5] As of 2013, four Nobel laureates are associated with the University, making it the only tertiary institution in the territory with recipients of the Nobel Prize, Turing Award, Fields Medal and Veblen Prize as faculty in residence.[6]
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Origins
1.2 Foundation
1.3 1963–present
1.3.1 Goddess of Democracy
2 Administration and organisation
2.1 Governance
2.2 Funding
3 Academics
3.1 Teaching and Learning
3.2 Research
3.3 Libraries and museums
3.4 Reputation and rankings
4 Student life
4.1 School environment
4.2 Collegiate system
4.3 Transportation
5 Notable people
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
The emblem of Yenching University, one of the precursors of Chung Chi College.
The university was formed in 1963 as a federation of three existing colleges. The first of these, New Asia College, was established in 1949 by anti-Communist Confucian scholars from Mainland China amid the revolution there. Among the founders were Ch'ien Mu, Tang Junyi, and Tchang Pi-kai. Curriculum focused particularly on Chinese heritage and social concerns. The early years of this school were tumultuous, with the campus relocating several times between rented premises around Kowloon. Academics there were often self-exiled from the mainland and they struggled financially, with students sometimes sleeping on rooftops and teachers foregoing pay to sustain the college. Funds were gradually raised and the school moved to a new campus in Kau Pui Lung, built with the support of the Ford Foundation, in 1956.[7]
Following the Communist revolution and the breakdown in relations between China and the United States at the 1950 outbreak of the Korean War, all Christian colleges and universities in the People's Republic of China were shut down.[8] Chung Chi College was founded in 1951 by Protestant churches in Hong Kong to continue the theological education of mainland churches and schools. The 63 students of its first year operating were taught in various church and rented premises on Hong Kong Island. The college moved to its present location in Ma Liu Shui (i.e., the present CUHK campus) in 1956.[9] By 1962, a year before the founding of CUHK, Chung Chi had 531 students in 10 departments taught by a full-time faculty of 40, excluding tutors.[10]
United College was founded in 1956 with the merging of five private colleges in Guangdong province: Canton Overseas, Kwang Hsia, Wah Kiu, Wen Hua, and Ping Jing College of Accountancy. The first school president was Dr F.I. Tseung. The original campus on Caine Road on Hong Kong Island accommodated over 600 students.[11]
These three colleges (along with some others created during this era) helped fill a void in the post-secondary education options available to Hong Kong Chinese students. Before 1949, such students could attend a university in the mainland. But with this option spoiled by the upheavals in China, students were unable to further their studies at a university unless their English proficiency was sufficient to enrol at the University of Hong Kong, then the only university in the territory. In 1957, New Asia College, Chung Chi College, and United College came together to establish the Chinese Colleges Joint Council.
Foundation[edit]
In June 1959, the Hong Kong government expressed its intent to establish a new university with a medium of instruction of Chinese. The same year the Post-Secondary Colleges Ordinance was announced to provide government funding and official recognition to New Asia, Chung Chi and United colleges in hopes that the money would "enable them to raise their standards to a level at which they might qualify for university status, probably on a federal basis".[10] The ordinance was enacted on 19 May 1960.
The Chinese University Preparatory Committee was established in June 1961 to advise the government on possible sites for the new university. The following May, the Fulton Commission was formed to assess the suitability of the three government-funded Post-Secondary Colleges to become constituent colleges of the new university. The commission, headed by Vice-Chancellor John Fulton of the newly established University of Sussex, visited Hong Kong over the summer and produced an interim report recommending the establishment of the federal university comprising the three colleges.[12]
The Fulton Commission report was tabled in the Legislative Council in June 1963, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Ordinance was passed in September of that year. The school was officially inaugurated in a ceremony at City Hall on 17 October 1963, officiated by the founding chancellor, Sir Robert Brown Black. The next year Dr. Li Choh-ming was appointed the first Vice-Chancellor of the university. The university originally comprised the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Social Science. Construction began at the site of the new campus in the Ma Liu Shui area, where Chung Chi College was already established, for new facilities to house central administration and the relocated New Asia and United colleges.
1963–present[edit]
View from Chung Chi, toward New Asia College on the summit
Construction on the new campus continued throughout the 1960s to a development plan produced by W. Szeto and Partners. Above the valley occupied by Chung Chi College, on two plateaux formed by granite quarrying for the Plover Cove dam, the quarters for the other two colleges would flank the Central campus housing administration and shared facilities.[13][14] Some of the most iconic buildings on campus, like the University Library, were built in this period along the monumental axis of the University Mall in the subdued concrete aesthetic for which the school is known. The School of Education, which would later become a faculty, was founded in 1965. The Graduate School, the first in Hong Kong, was founded in 1966 and the first batch of master's degrees were awarded the following year.
In the early 1970s, New Asia and United College moved into their new premises on the highest plateau of the campus. The Student Union was established in 1971. The School of Medicine was founded in 1977 and the teaching hospital, the Prince of Wales Hospital in nearby Sha Tin New Town, was established several years later. The first non-founding college, Shaw College, was named after its patron, Sir Run Run Shaw, who donated five hundred million Hong Kong dollars toward its establishment in May 1985. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Declaration of Shaw College) Ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council in July 1986, and the fourth college was officially opened in March 1990 by Run Run Shaw and Governor David Wilson.[15][16]
The 1990s brought about another building boom. The old Chung Chi teaching and administration blocks were demolished and replaced with larger, more modern structures in several phases over the course of a decade. The Ho Sin-Hang engineering block opened in 1994 to house the new School of Engineering. In 1994, the school transitioned to a British-style three-year bachelor degree system.[17] The Hong Kong Internet Exchange, a metropolitan network backbone, was founded in 1995 and remains an internet hub for the region.[18]
The school is presently undergoing another period of expansion, in part to accommodate increased student numbers brought about by the 334 Scheme. Five new colleges have come into operation in recent years: Morningside College and S. H. Ho College were announced in 2006, and were followed in 2007 by C. W. Chu College, Wu Yee Sun College and Lee Woo Sing College. These colleges are smaller in scale than the existing ones, each comprising only one or two blocks rather than an entire section of campus and housing fewer students, but they nonetheless each contain the usual array of facilities like student hostels, amenities and communal dining halls. New teaching blocks and a student amenity centre have also recently opened near the railway station.
Goddess of Democracy[edit]
large bronze statue and relief laid out on paved walkway cordoned off with blue and white tape but surrounded by curious visitors
The Goddess and the accompanying relief at the Chinese University Shatin campus
B/W image of hundreds of people orderly sitting outdoors, with an unfurled banner
Students attend an open-air meeting at the university campus
Main article: Goddess of Democracy (Hong Kong) § CUHK controversy
On 29 May 2010, when the CUHK student union sought to permanently locate a 'Goddess of Democracy' statue on campus, the administrative and planning committee of the University convened an emergency meeting for 1 June, chaired by incumbent Vice-chancellor Lawrence Lau, to consider the request.[19] The application was turned down; the reason provided was the need for the University to maintain political neutrality. Staff and students objected to the refusal, however, accusing the committee of self-censorship; students declared they were prepared for a stand-off against the University, saying they would ensure the statues were accommodated on campus "at all costs".[20]
A student meeting was convened, and student union President Eric Lai told 2,000 attendees that the University officials should apologise for their opposition of the art display.[21] On 4 June, bowing to public outcry and student pressure, the University relented, and allowed the statue on campus.[22]
Vice-chancellor designate Joseph Sung, who was consulted on the vote in absentia, admitted that it was the biggest political storm in 21 years. He revealed that, in addition to preserving political neutrality, safety and security concerns were factors in the decision. He also drew a distinction between this application – for a permanent University installation – and hypothetical applications for short-term expressions of free speech, suggesting the latter would have been more likely to be approved, but he criticised the management team as "immature" and "inexperienced" in handling the incident.[
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