Newsletter No. 38

No.38 January 1993 CUHK Newsletter- academic procession moving towards the congregation site Procession members elegantly robed incidentally was a Monday. 1993 is the University's 30th anniversary year, but this year the University foundation day will fall on a Sunday. Maybe that is why 14th October, another Thursday, has been chosen as the date for the next, the 46th, congregation. Three Venues When it comes to the choice of venue for the past 45 congregations, the rationale is more apparent. Before campus-building in Sha Tin was complete, the University had very little choice. The Conceit Hall of the City Hall, newly opened in 1962, was then the most suitable venue for important academic ceremonies, and was indeed chosen to accommodate the University's first 16 congregations held between 1963 and 1975. It offered its service to the University for the last time in 1978, when Prof. Ma Lin was installed as vice-chancellor. All in all, 17 congregations were held at the City Hall. Upon the completion of the University Mall in 1976 ， its central location, spaciousness and grandeur impressed so many that the University decided to move the congregations back to the campus. The Mall was the only venue on campus for congregations until 1983, when its new neighbour, the Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, started to take over some of its heavy workload. Workload had increased as a result of the increased number of graduates. One congregation each year was simply not enough to allow the conferment of degrees and honorary degrees in style and with sufficient glamour. So starting from 1983 ， two congregations were organized each year 一 the first in October for the conferment of honorary and higher degrees, and the second in December for the conferment of first degrees. The Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, a smaller yet more ‘official' ceremonial ground, has since become the venue for the October function, while the University Mall, with its spaciousness, has remained the most ideal venue for December congregations, which usually involve a much larger number of people. The former has witnessed a total of 11 congregations, and the latter, 17. Who and How Many Are in the Procession? Academic processions are always interesting to watch: important faces can be identified among procession members as they slowly march towards the congregation site, and those well-versed in the subject of academic dress can tell from the colour, trimmings, or collars of their robes who is from .which university and whether someone is a Ph.D., assuming of course that no one will put on anything he is not entitled to. Those without their own academic gowns will, on formal occasions of this sort, wear dark suits, morning coats, or national dress, making the procession all the more colourful and attractive. The current practice at this university is to invite all academic and administrative staff of lecturer rank or above to join the procession. But back in the 60s when the earliest congregations were held, only staff members of senior lecturer rank or above would be invited. In the procession are also representatives from the student unions, alumni associations and the Yale-China Association, Council members, emeritus professors, chairmen of the boards of trustees of the four colleges, University officers, and where relevant, honorary graduands. The list has increased with the passage of time: the procession in the 44th congregation last October was made up of 30 categories of members. The marshalling of a procession in order of precedence is a totally different matter, and the guiding principle here is seniority. The list on page 8 gives the first and last five categories of procession members in the 44th congregation, and 7