【Our History Gallery: Kweilin Street Period Student Identifications】

Students today use their CU Link cards in every corner of the campus. Can you picture what student ID cards looked like 70 years ago?

Thanks to the kind donation by early alumni, we know that there were two kinds of student identification documents back in the Kweilin Street period: the “Register Book” and the “Identification Card”. With a burgundy cover and 24 pages, the Register Book contains personal information as well as lists of courses taken by the student in each semester.

Identification Card from the Kweilin Street period. A list of regulations were printed on the back cover. (Figure 2 to 6 show the Identification Card donated by 1956 Business alumnus Mr. Steve Kuo Tze Wai)

*The inner pages of the Identification Card shows that it was issued in 1956 when Mr. Kuo was a year-four student.*

The orange Identification Card has a much simpler design—it is a paper card folded into 4 pages containing a photo and personal information, with a list of regulations on the back cover. Unlike the Register Book, the Identification Card expires in one semester and needs to be renewed at the College Office in each term.

*( Left and right )The burgundy cover of the Register Book.*

It is not clear whether the two documents were handed to students simultaneously or separately as a replacement of the other, but the addresses on the covers may help shed some light on the matter. On the Register Book, only the Kweilin Street address was listed; while on the Identification Card, there was a second address on Grampian Road, referring to the additional campus rented by the College in 1954. Also, according to the Register Books in our collection, the earliest course record was in September 1952. It may be safe to deduce that the Identification Card was issued after the Register Book.

Apart from personal information, lists of courses taken by the student in each semester were also recorded on the inner pages of the Register Book. In the Register Books donated by Mr. Steve Kuo and Mr. Hu Shih Chong, it was stated they were admitted in 1952, almost 70 years ago from now. (Figure 7 to 9 show the Register Book donated by 1956 Philosophy and Education alumnus Mr. Hu Shih Chong.)

*Comparing the two historical documents with today’s CU Link Card.*

【New Asia Family: Mr. Yang Sze-ngai Raymond (17/Government and Public Administration), Co-Founder of “JUST FEEL”】