Fundraising for Establishment of “Dr. Philip Shen Memorial Fund” and Casting of Bronze Bust

Since its establishment in 1951, Chung Chi College has been nurturing talents for society with its motto “In Pursuit of Excellence”. It was the effort of all College Heads and Presidents that contributed for the success of the College in multiple aspects for the 65 years. When looking at the College’s achievements in terms of general education (GE), the former Head Dr. Philip Shen is definitely whom we shall attribute the greatest contribution to.

Dr. Philip Shen joined the College in 1962 and was appointed the College Head during 1990 and 1994. He was the Dean of General Education from 1977 to 1990. Having borrowed the ideas and elements of general education from the University of Chicago, where he obtained his Ph.D., Dr. Shen tailor-made for Chung Chi the “Integrative Basic Studies” Programme (IBS) shortly after his arrival at the College. IBS has further evolved into an essential part of the GE programmes of both the College and CUHK, providing students with a balanced education.

“It’s not only the transmission of knowledge that university education serves for, but it also focuses on life, societies, cultures, history, and all common issues we, human beings, confront,” adds Senior College Tutor Professor Cheung Chan Fai, who met Dr. Philip Shen in the late 60s and was deeply inspired by him ever since. With the establishment of IBS, Dr. Shen had lectured the whole series of “Idea of a University“, the College’s GE course for freshmen. “You could find all elements in Dr. Shen’s lectures: from the idea of university, to intellectuals, and social movements. And such series had immense influence on me and all my classmates,” recalls Professor Cheung. Despite a diversity of their majors, all Chung Chi students would immediately remember Plato’s The Republic when recalling Dr. Shen’s lecture. Under Dr. Shen’s design of IBS, freshmen would first be allowed to ponder on what signifies university education, supplemented with training on the essential skills required for intellectual inquiry; then to be immersed in Chinese and Western cultures including classics texts and be exposed to subjects distinct from major studies; and to, eventually during their final year of studies, realize and apply what they have learnt through a cross-disciplinary collaborative seminar. “Dr. Shen has refined the essence of general education into a complete curriculum,” describes Professor Cheung, “which had made him, for certain, ‘The Father of Chung Chi GE’!” Professor Cheung, who held the position as the Director of University GE before retirement, recognizes that Dr. Shen’s approaches to general education and IBS had positively made a profound influence on the curriculum of University GE too.

Apart from general education, the generous care Dr. Shen offered to students has also been unforgettable for generations of Chung Chi-ers. Bringing students home for dinner, watching movies together, chatting overnight, how Dr. Shen was willing to spend time with students had touched Professor Cheung and many other students of Dr. Shen so much.

Nonetheless, Dr. Philip Shen’s love never stops at Professor Cheung or graduates of decades ago. Instead, it is further extended to all Chung Chi students through the IBS Programme up till now. IBS, as the core of College GE, also gave rise to the foundation of the “IBS Resource Centre” in the 80s, which has been supporting the teaching and learning of IBS ever since. In October 2015, the Centre was relocated to the former site of the College’s Multimedia Centre next to the Elisabeth Luce Moore Library. The whole area was redesigned into a relaxing space to support both the teaching of College GE curriculum and the learning of students. Together with a reading corner, students can find a vast collection of reading and audio-visual materials featuring university education, university life, cultures, as well as reference materials for the first-year course “Idea of a University”. Meanwhile, a database for browsing reports of the final-year course “Senior Seminar” supported with IT equipment and a group study room are also available to satisfy the needs of students for College GE learning.

To honour Dr. Philip Shen’s contribution to Integrative Basic Studies and salute his impact on general education, the College will cast a bronze bust of Dr. Shen and name the IBS Resource Centre as “Shen’s General Education Resource Centre”, where Dr. Shen’s bust will be place. The bust, the casting of which will be commissioned to well-known sculptor Mr. Chu Tat Shing, is expected to be completed in late October this year with its unveiling ceremony held during the College’s 65^th Anniversary celebrations.

Alumni, members and friends of the College are invited to join together to found the “Dr. Philip Shen Memorial Fund” for the casting of Dr. Shen’s bronze bust by making a donation. With a minimum target of HK$500,000, the Fund will be used for the casting of the bronze bust in remembrance of Dr. Philip Shen, while any surplus will be designated for scholarships, teaching and learning of the College’s GE Programme. A donation form can be found here . Completed forms and donation cheques should be sent to General Education Office, M/F, Chung Chi College Administration Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong. Further details are available from Dr. Ian C. Chow, GE Programme Manager, Chung Chi College, who can be reached by phone at 3943 6447 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

(This article also appears on Chung Chi Campus Newsletter published on April 16, 2016.)