Soochow University - Annual Yearbook (Taipei, Taiwan)

Page 17 text:

families among the faculty and administrative staff. p 'A third major building program -was initiaied in the spring of 1964, which was just ten years after the school's regsitration with the Ministry of Education. This represented the resumption of work for the completion of the Student Center, after an interruption of five years, and the culmination of the peans for an appropriate memorial to the late Bishop Ralph A. Ward. Tl1e Student Center, which with equal reason could be called Alumni Hall , was designed at first so that the second floor could serve both as auditorium and gymnasium. Thendining room, and kitchen occupied the ground floor. ,In 1931 the expanding needs for space necessitated the removal- of the library collection from the main classroom building to the auditorium-where the space was shared for more than two years. This in turn brought to an end the former practice of using the place for gymnastics, iivhich thereeafter were assigned to the athletics field. It was doubly welcome, therefore, when Dr. Stone announced in the spring of 1931 that' the Hong Kong alumni had contributed money enough to complete the Student Center, which had been left unfinished since 1959. Q 4 The addition of the wings , as planned originally, has made possible several new offices, the dressing rooms off-stage, the postoffice and proje:-tionbooth, a sizeable conference room, the remodeling of the kitchen, the enlargement of the dining room, and the provision of a wide stairway leading up from the main entrance to the auditorium. ' U Several years prior to this time, Bishop Ward had passed away rather suddenly in Hong Kong, December 11, 1958. This unexpected news was met by a spontaneous contribution of funds friends in America, for a memorial to his missionary career in,China. This was to be a part of the University, since his latter years were dovoted so tirelessly and with such vision to the transplanted institution which was evolving hopefully in its new island home. Later it was agreed to build a chapel, since there was no me111-Jrialii111o1'e fitting as tribute to Bishop 'Ward,s life than a place of worship on a collegecampus. ln the end Ward Hall was designed as a dual-purpose structure, with one part as a temporary library the symbol of the educated mind- - and the orher part, a chapel- the symbol of the aspiring spiririt, - the brilding being so located that all who came into the ,Wai Shu.ang',Hsi Valley could see and recognize the tower and cross, as the symbolic representation of the nature and centrality ii :' iamin 'Y whirl A Qs- A ji 1, ' 1 ,T 4 ' M1215 ' - he i H, ' ,. ga . 1 .eneizizz ,iw .. VR , ig! f,i'g5g'2iibQ,,Q'. .iw fl' j 1,1 ' 1: Tiff Q H an it , T 3 2 H E H in , W sie 1 as , - , X ' 32215 eefdlggwg M Q eb - X 1 a, s 1 rf iii :Weiss -ea 1 'l ,LSE 5 if . it rfffffizgagzfg, i.,,N ., mf ,Egg Il , ' if! ,, I S 5531 E W' z Y 1 M V ,eg ' Y . ' 7 ...ff 1 1 T of the Christian faith in the scheme of Christian higher education. I ' ln the summer of 193.4 the campus underwent a renovation as to clectri: power lines, drainage system, and water mains, including the erection of a new water tower, uphill, and the sinking of a new deep well along the bank of the creek which forms the boundary of the athietics field on the campus. Now, all buildings are connected by walks, cement ramps, or steps, including the areas of the dormitories and the faculty residences . ' On December 1, 1954, at the time of the dedication of the new chapel by Bisho Hazen G. 'Werner all of the buildin0's were included in a p 3 ca dedication to Christian education, and the main structures were offially named: ' ' were Hall qcrapei and Libraryp ge gp Academic Building if-D Student Center Cejeiigffjflefcgj 'With the interior sections bearing the names related to the principal donors: Auditorium C525 ,qiejjgj East 'W ing 1 'West Wing Diningroom Soochow University has been fortunate in Hsien ch'en T'ing Yu T'-ang T'ing Citi Xi QED .Kong Yu T'ing Cie CE? Ji jjgy T 1i Yu T'inf1' 'A' o obtaining the services of leading scholars to teach all branches and comparative law, and such other subjects as economics, political science, accounting, Chinese language and literature, and foreign languages and literarure. ln laying plans for the future of the institution.,-in the Board of Trnstees of the University, and the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church in New York, jointly conducted a survey of the University in its entirety as a basis for an evaluation of the resorces ,of the institution in relation to the scope and direction of its development. The Survey Team was made up of three distinguished educators, two from the United States,a Chinese professor and an American educational administrator and one Chinese professor from Taiwan. A large part of the month of July, 1962, was spent on the campus for an intimate look at Qtfie school with its varous functions, and with its legitimate needs. Out of this came a Survey Report addr-assed to the two Boards, with analyses and recommendations. This. was followed in turn 'by a final review in ... - B :s,.s ': ,, ii - . gs- mli VE' a we, 'ia s -We 1 f. X zzz H ,, iiiz. - ' , : i'5,,jgzP ' If . Qigrveissaiiitxtgggitg Xftnifdiialiil it ii in . any ' :insert in mtv? if c it ,spina it H, - SIZE! S 'f ' 'aging i 1 ,air 1 Z, Y M 3, .. rf-gig he '-we ,stil 1 - jrgiy, - if ' 1 1 ' f Zfsi 1 le 2, , filif fi n Z 1 l ' W P' ' ati , r' . 1. ,V il H Q.g!ima1..,,,,' I , Ag , g 1 any eq, Q11

Page 16 text:

.Sli ,t X.. my I 154 zzz i zzz . lr' Q ec ci. vi ,ern ee. ,zz ,X le K mzsam p I if lfliiztza . it :hz za 1' bi is-31355: zzfes: .. J, K .s ci' ' zz 1 its - , ,,, 1 ' if Z -- fact, Q ' A- .lr 153, ,. ,K Am zzzze 1 Tl 'Z' - zziz ' e Q 'zsziii h V sill: z -- zzzzn, A Ei M iff fi, A.,, ,zig gi Vz z -' Q zzz 'lf zzz 1 -1 to ' cgi - cz 1 z xx Kilt ma it liilssxi e ...Q zz 'nz 1. rm -z ,z ,, zzzz iz, z zz , z. .ll ,zzz ':, zz we it ,Y .. 5. weft .rszzwz fe zzz ' as z azz cnc, fifty use -- e-12 ' i :i-,N limi, if ze zz nc. -s A site was prepared for the Law School also in Chungking, Szcchuan Province, the war-time capital of China, so as to provide for thc large number of staff and students who had fled from Shanghai into the interior. The Dcan of the school moved to Chungking, and instruction continued there for the duration of the war. Q Q After the Japanese surrender, all the units of Soochow University gotiback home and resumed their normal functioning under a revived and enlarged Board of Trustees. A commencement was held June 23, 1946, in the Metropole Theater, Shanghai. On this occasion 458 degrees were conferred as follows: B. A, 1575 B. S., 885 LL. B., 213. The enrollment at this time was 1310. Several years earier, Soochow University came into the group that received supplementary promotional benefits from the United Board for Christian Colleges in China, known as the UBCCC. This organization assumed certain responsibilities for promoting the welfare of Soochow along with the twelve other Christian colleges and universities on the mainland. QThe board is now known as the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. Renewed affiliations with Soochow, in an associated relationship, will provide contnuity with the mainland past.j The Communist rebellion of 1949 bronght a temporary end to Soochow in all its departments, as it did to all other Christian institutions in mainland China, except those operated by local congregations. The Soochow campus in Soochow is, reportedly, now occupied by the South Kiangsu College of Education. But Soochow had not come to an end. In 1951 Seochow was reactivated in Taipei, the capital of the Republic of China, and opened its doors in rented quarters in the mid-town business section at No. 15 Han Kew Street, Section 1. lt became an unregistered school known as the Soochow 19,1-'cparatory School. In 1951 this school was recoginzed as the Soochow 'University Law College, thanks to the active interest of many alumni. lawyers in Taipei and other Taiwan cities who had fled the mainland and who were resuming their practice and their old lives of usefulness and influence. A constitution was drawn up for Soochow University and submitted by he Board of Trustees to the Ministry of Education. This constitution was approved by the Ministry. I ln.1956, laregly through the influence and hard work of the late Methodist Bishop Ralph A. Ward, the Board of Missions of the Methodist Church in New York, N.Y., U.S.A., voted an arrangement whereby Methodist funds could be contributed to the work of Soochow University. The board also appropriated USS,15,000.00 which was used to help purchase a new campus north of Taipei. Since the old days in Soochow and Shanghai, there has been a merger of three principal Methodist 'bodies in the United States so that there is no longer a Methodist Episcopal Church, South. That body has been merged with the others into the new Methodist Church and it is this latter body whose mission board has now expressed a renewed interest in Soochow University. z ln 1957 the university acquired a new 37.5 acre campus in Shih Lin, Wai Shuang Hsi, a beautiful valley that has since been designated for development into a cultural center for Taipei area. ln the fall of 1953 the institutioirwas able to transfer all day classes to the new campus, using the first building, the academic building, for both administrative and instructional purposes. The Hankow Street property was retained temporarily for the exclusive use of the evening classes in law. 1 ln the summer of 1961, a major change in the operation of the University was effected by the removal of thc Law Department from I-Iankow Street to the suburban campus in Shih Lin, thus concentrating all administrative and academic work in one place. p The new academic building is a large three-storied structure of reinforced concrete, containing' twenty large classrooms, three small ones, and nine for office and administrative uses. In front of this building and on the lowermain level prtion of the valley are the athletics grounds: a large soccer field, a volley ball court, a baseball diamond, and eight tennis courts. A second building, the Student Center was planned and thc main central Qauditoriumj section brought to completion in 1959, financed entirely by funds contributed by alumni and friends and well-Wishers in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other centers of Chinese population. A war-like gesture by the Chinese communists, in that same year, brought the project to a sudden, though temporary standstill, to await a more stabilized international mood for completion at some future date. ln the period, 1959-51, threc other buildings appeared on the campus3 a men's 'dormitory of 36 rooms, and a womencls dormitory of 119 rooms, with a combined capacity of 380 studentsz and a small though very commodious structure known as Kuang Tao T'ing', to be used as a small chapel for the lei: formal religious programs, and for certain social and music activities connected therewith. Attached to the west end of this building' is the clinic room, which is staffed bythe Water of Life Clinic of the Taipei Methodist Church. During the summer of 1961, residences were constructed for the presidents of the university, plus an initial six Q. i i P 41, 8 l 7 1 4 'fi 7 z z

Page 18 text:

zzccc 9 ,,i.zzizxzm5zzWg W ill sq.. f fa zzzzsa , zz ii, X17 zz.,- fffi 'fir ,za zz 2 ss: Z ,zzz 'zz , W lil tii zz'ii5ii zz, wzz ,,... 3 fm, iii' :i'z fl:f1, .misuse in ,sz ,z zz up - A zzz sf: zz wasp zzzzze z H -W 'f Rza, ffifzillzfllfi az . szegzz 1' 2 Biz Q 'zz , L, W November 1962, by the University Board with the visiting Bishop and Mission secretary. This resulted in formulating an Agreement for the two-year period, 1963-65, covering 'proposals for financial,appropriatons, buildings land, curriculum-, educational standar faculty ahd staff personnel, and Christian activities and emphases on the campus. This first agreement was somewhat exploratory in purpose. . The Second Survey waswill be conducted in the fall of 1965 by the same three Christian scholars and this will be more nearly determinative in establishing an Agreement for a longer period, beginning with the new academic year, 1965-66. All of this is directed toward the elevation of standards-.land the broadening of the local financial base, on the assumption that within afew years the institution will proceed with the addition of the remaining three departments requisite for the status of a full-fledged university, and: thus regain the position it occupied in the community of Christian universities on the mainland of China. z 1The Trustees are even now laying' plans for a second academic builng, most probably to be known as Nance Hall, which is needed to relieve the pressure for more classroom space. This in turn will call for more land appropriate to the needs of a growing institution. i The Soozhow University alumni have extended their assoziation by organizing local clubs of alumni in various cities in Taiwan, as there are many hundreds of graduates from mainland days here now in Taiwan. During the winter of 1961 and the spring of 1962, the alumni conducted an active financial campaign, which they hope may be the beginning of a Living Endowment Roll call each year. All alumni are invited to answer the roll call by contributing something to the annual budget of the Univarsity. e On June 16, 1930, the anniversary of the founding of the Univeersity on the home campus in Soochow was duly commemorated in a special convocation held in the new auditorium on thc campus in Wai Shuang Hsi. This was attended not only by students and local friends, and by large numbers of alumni residing in Taiwan, but also by other alumni including several well-.known scholars and professional men from overseas, who were in Taiwan for a visit. 'Cn March 16, 1965, the sixty-fourth anniversary was commemorated in like manner, this time with the new Bishop, the Rev. Dr. Hazen G. Werner, serving as the principal speaker. The address was inspiring throughout: it highlighted the significant chapters in the University's past careerg it affirmed with , faith the role awaiting the University in the futureg and it called on both the American Church and the Chinese constituency to meet with courage the challenge of this difficult but hopeful hour. Let the University gird itself for the progressive fulfilment of its founding purpose, as it serves the generations of youth today and tomorrow, in this beloved land of our free Republic. I With the history and the heritage of the institution thus reviewed, the Methodist church, the Alumni, the Administration, and all Friends of Soochow can tl1e more resolutely address themselves to the ongoing developmentof the University in the years to come. May, 1965 J. W. Dyson