Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2003

University Students No Longer an Elite Group Summing up his student union experience at the University, Chun-yum emphasized that students today are more enthusiastic about interest group activities than student union events, though overall participation rate in both has dropped. It is because there are now more attractions beyond the campus gates. ‘Students are also under greater financial pressure, with some having to juggle four or five tuition jobs to earn enough for daily expenses, leaving time for little else. Serious issues relating to politics, social justice and university policy simply don't strike a chord with them. Even those who may be interested find it difficult to study and handle student union affairs simultaneously as the latter's workload is heavy.' As he said, university students used to consider themselves the cream of the crop, the future ‘pillars’of society. Society also placed high hopes on them. They felt the weight of expectation and they honoured it. But in recent years, he said, the trend has been to criticize university students as immature, academically not up to par, lacking in overall quality. The mutual trust they used to enjoy with society has waned. Chun-yum believes that the social role of u n i v e r s i t y s t uden ts is i n c r e a s i n g ly marginalized. Back in the 70s and 80s when watchdog groups were fledglings and political parties were absent from the scene, college students had more space to discuss current affairs, to point out the ills of their age. They were the leaders of public opinion. Then in the 90s, w i th the proliferation of political groups and parties, the students' role as policy critics diminished in importance, as did their self-consciousness and sense o f c i v ic responsibility. University students, including those at The Chinese University, had lost interest in public affairs. Chun-yum concurred, on the other hand, that today's student leaders are not of the same calibre as their predecessors. ‘Whether it's the capacity for social analysis, theoretical knowledge, organizational skills, and maturity, they don't measure up.' The student movement of recent years has largely been confined to the activities of a handful of student leaders outside the campus. They have not been able to rally support on campus, let alone stir their peers to action. The New Vice-Chancellor and Institutional Integration ‘Many university vice-chancellors today are similar to CEOs in business and industry. They run the university like a commercial entity, spending a lot of effort on economizing and fundraising. I agree money is crucial to a university's development, but I also think that our new vice-chancellor should be someone with lofty educational ideals, someone who can stand up for his/her principles when faced with pressure from the government. He/she should also be willing to communicate with students. Only a vice-chancellor with these traits can truly lead and inspire.' As regards the proposed merger between The Chinese University and HKUST, Chun- y um believes that student interest and educational ideals should figure prominently in the discussions, and that integration should only take place after careful thought. ‘The move should be assessed on how it w i ll help realize the University's founding mission. Focusing solely on resource acquisition is trying to solve an educational matter in a utilitarian manner. Realistically speaking, more resources mean more things done, of course. But what about things like teacher- student relationships? When New Asia College was still on Kweilin Street in the 50s, resources were meagre but teacher-student relationship was enviably close. They had their lessons by day and put the desks together for sleeping by night. This was probably the most venerated era in higher education. Yet i f we simply rate a university by size and ranking, New Asia College on Kw e i l i n Street and Peking University in Cai Yuanpei's time would never make the cut,' Chun-yum concluded. Recounting Their Experiences at CUHK 23