Bulletin Supplement May 1969

F u l l T e x t o f D r . D . J. S. C r o z ie r ' s S p e e c h T h a t I shou ld have been in v ite d to address th is d is tingu ished g a th e rin g to d a y on b e h a lf o f the h o n o ra ry g raduands is, I assume, a re co g n itio n of m y s e n io rity in years and n o t o f any o the r q u a lity I possess. M y fe llo w g raduands have won d is tin c tio n s 1 canno t c la im : h ig h in te rn a tio n a l em inence in th e ir respective fie lds o f le a rn in g and in the case o f D r. Robinson, th e a d d itio n o f a no tab le ca ree r in u n iv e rs ity a dm in is tra tio n . The y are a ll w o rth y re c ip ien ts o f academ ic acc la im ; and I w o u ld lik e to stand aside fr o m them f o r a m oment and app lau d w ith you th e ir m e rits f o r the honou rs w h ic h H is E xce llen cy the C han ce llo r has ju s t bestowed upon them . B u t i f the acciden t o f years has g iven me th is o p p o rtu n ity to speak I am v e ry g la d to ta k e advan tage o f it. F o r to me th is occasion is more th a n ju s t a U n iv e rs ity Cong rega tion ； i t is th e glimpse o f a P rom ised Land in to w h ic h I had th o u g h t neve r to set fo o t. W hen the tim e came f o r me to re tire fro m the p u b lic service in H ong K o ng one o f m y c h ie f reg re ts was th a t I shou ld n o t be here to see the in a u g u ra tio n o f The Chinese U n iv e rs ity . I had the p riv ile g e o f be ing associated w ith its concep tion and e a rly p la n n in g ; b u t I was no lo ng e r here when i t came in to being. The o p p o rtu n ity to see i t now , in f u ll existence, is to me a s igna l bonus to the g ra tific a tio n I fe e l a t be ing g iven the U n iv e rs ity 's h ighe s t academ ic aw a rd , an aw a rd th a t I have rece ived w ith a ll the more pleasure because i t has been con fe rred d u rin g the V ice -C han ce llo rsh ip o f D r. L i whose ra re com b ina tion o f ta len ts have p la ye d such a decisive p a r t in p la n tin g the U n iv e rs ity so firm ly on its fee t. I rem em be r th a t w hen P ro fesso r H e rb e rt B u tte rfie ld was speaking a t its siste r U n iv e rs ity 's Go lden Jub ilee ce leb ra tions e ig h t years ago he said th a t as one who p res ided ove r a College w ith ove r 700 years o f h is to ry beh ind i t he cou ld see d is tin c t advantages in being connected w ith a young in s titu tio n , in k n ow in g ju s t how i t had begun ra th e r th a n be ing dependen t f o r th is know ledge on the d o u b tfu l accu racy o f an c ien t records. The re is something in th is . U n ive rs itie s are n o t b o rn eve ry d a y ; and fu tu re gene ra tions o f th is U n iv e rs ity w ill envy us the experience o f k n ow in g i t in its in fa n c y . One o f m y e a rlie s t contacts w ith the post-secondary colleges— as th e y we re th e n ca lle d—was a v is it I pa id in 1951 to New A s ia College in the prem ises i t occupied a t th a t tim e , a fe w d rab apa rtm en ts in a no isy s tree t o ff N a th a n Road. The re , f o r the firs t tim e , I m e t M r. (n ow D r.) Chien M u and his devoted band o f scholars in exile . I t was a h um b lin g experience to observe le a rn in g be ing pu rsued w ith such single-m indedness and in su rround ing s th a t cou ld n o t have been more uncongen ia l. I t s tru c k me th e n th a t the re , perhaps, in ano the r c on tine n t and d ra w in g its in s p ira tio n fro m o th e r in te lle c tu a l springs, we re the s p iritu a l he irs o f the colleges o f Eu rope in the tw e lfth c e n tu r y : Bo logna , Pa ris, O x fo rd . E ve ryw he re i t was the teache r ra th e r th a n the p lace th a t m a tte red . Those shoddy fla ts o ff N a th an Road somehow had an atmosphere o f le a rn in g and o f le a rn in g being d ire c ted to good purposes. Recen tly, an E n g lish academ ic lea de r w a rned us th a t scho la r ship was b e g inn ing to encoun te r a new k in d o f p h ilis tin ism , the P h ili s t i n i s m o f i n t e l l i g e n t m e n . O n e s a w t h is h a p p e n w h e r e h ig h e r educa tion was tre a te d so le ly as a know ledg e in d u s try and w he re know ledge , n o t w isdom , became the fir s t and fin a l o b je c t o f study. In th is s itu a tio n th e re is a dange r th a t the values o f the u n iv e rs ity become — 1 0 —