Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Establishment of Lingnan College in Hong Kong
Establishment of Lingnan College in Hong Kong on Stubbs Road campus in 1967, which was relocated to the current Tuen Mun campus in 1995
Lai, Yiu-keung. "The Old Spirit in a New Setting: The Hong Kong Story of Lingnan University" (Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Bok Co., 2018)
In 1961, through various Lingnan alumni organizations such as the Lingnan Alumni Association, Lingnan Club, and Lingnan Middle School, alumni in Hong Kong tried to revive ‘the spirit of Lingnan’ by forming the Lingnan Education Extension Development Group.
During the following five years, Lingnan alumni groups renewed its activities in cooperation with Chung Chi College, which was ultimately incorporated into the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Keeping pace with this cooperation, the Trustees of Lingnan University in New York sponsored the establishment of the Lingnan Institute of Business Administration in CUHK to offer the MBA program in 1966.
On 9 September 1967, the Lingnan Education Extension Development Group successfully opened Lingnan College. Since quite a number of directors of the Lingnan Middle School were also concurrently directors of the new college, the College received the consent of the Middle School to share their school buildings. This situation led the Trustees of Lingnan University in New York to have reservations about the active financial support for the new college. At the initial stage, there were three faculties—Arts, Business, and Science—and one hundred applicants were admitted as students of the preparatory class. The merging of Lingnan College and Lingnan Middle School to establish ‘the Lingnan Education Organization’ (LEO) in 1969 was a pivotal moment because it made it possible for the College to have its own buildings.
Certificate of incorporation of Lingnan College Limited
Certification of incorporation of Lingnan College Limited, 1967
Starting 1979, the College offered its programs in the mode of 2.2.1 (i.e. two-year advanced level program, two-year post advanced level program, and one-year further post-advanced level program), which led to a rapid increase in the number of students. However, although the College was upgraded to a registered post-secondary institution, it was still not eligible for granting degrees. Therefore, bearing in mind their final goal of moving Lingnan College up the ladder to university status, the LEO leadership launched a series of reforms to improve the learning atmosphere. Finally, in March 1991, an institutional review of Lingnan conducted by the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation allowed Lingnan College to confer degrees and to receive full subsidy from the Government.
First graduates of Lingnan College in Hong Kong, 1971
Certificate of graduation, 1984
In 1993, realizing that the campus on Stubbs Road was not large enough to meet the needs of its future development, the Lingnan leadership embarked on moving to the new campus in Area 52, Fu Tei, North Tuen Mun, which is where the present campus is located. In 1995, Edward K. Y. Chen, then Professor of Economics at the University of Hong Kong, became the new president of Lingnan College. He set his sights on developing Lingnan into a liberal arts university.
After prolonged negotiation with the government, the Lingnan University Ordinance was finally passed in July 1999. Lingnan College was officially upgraded and retitled as Lingnan University. As the only public liberal arts university in Hong Kong, Lingnan University was selected as one of the “Top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges in Asia” by Forbes.
Tuen Mun campus of Lingnan College under construction, 1995
A publication on the grand opening ceremony of the new campus in Tuen Mun, 1996