Bulletin No. 1, 2024

“This was a great opportunity to give back to my alma mater,” she says. It involved liaising with alumni, colleagues and social luminaries spanning 60 years, as well as gathering talented people at CUHK today. The Steering Committee was founded with the approval of the Council’s Executive Committee in December 2021, and held a meeting in March in the following year. It mainly focused on formulating the overall direction of the celebration events, guiding the 60 th anniversary working groups, and performing the duties assigned by the Council or the Vice-Chancellor. The Committee has established the working group on 60 th anniversary, which has five working sub-groups to coordinate alumni activities, the gala dinner, fundraising, global strategies and social impact activities. Into the splendour of diamond jubilee events All colleges, faculties and departments participated in the jubilee celebrations, which ran from February 2023 to June 2024. “Many were unforgettable,” says Yan. “For the commencement ceremony there was a light show and a drone performance that was the first-of-its-kind in Hong Kongʼs higher education sector.” In this performance, which combined technology and art, the CUHK logo and “CUHK60” were displayed above the University Mall, where more than 1,000 guests, staff and students had gathered. A light show telling the CUHK story was projected onto the Library’s facade. This was followed by dancing and choir performances by students, watched online by more than 9,500 alumni, faculty members, staff and students. invited us for help, we gladly offered our support,” she recalls. Decades later, they performed in a drama to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of United College. Yan was the chairperson of the drama’s organising committee. She and Luther Fung collaborated again in the University’s 40 th anniversary play Of Phoenix Lineage . The teamwork, character analysis and interpersonal skills that come with acting also served Yan well in the fields of education, media and public service. “I’m grateful to CUHK for nurturing me and giving me many opportunities to explore. I was fortunate enough to have good teachers who encouraged me to participate in drama activities, namely Rev Fr John Gannon and Professor Yao Ke. Gannon was a Shakespeare expert teaching English literature and drama, and Yao was a famous Chinese playwright who taught in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature.” Gathering the bright minds Yan has made many good friends and accumulated life experiences in her abundant campus life, which are the source of her motivation to give back to CUHK. She has served on the CUHK 40 th Anniversary Organising Committee, chaired three terms of the CUHK Convocation, and is currently a Council member of CUHK and the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of United College. She has served her alma mater for nearly six decades in the blink of an eye. “The more I get involved, the more I feel itʼs worth dedicating to my alma mater. CUHK has laid the foundation of my life, made me more courageous and confident, and broadened my network.” 2 Lina Yan’s six decades of dedication to her alma mater   17