Press Release Details
New Asia College Marks its 60th Anniversary
December 4, 2009
Several staff members, friends, and alumni of the Yale-China Association joined more than 1,000 people at the Hong Kong Convention Center on November 29 to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of New Asia College.
Yale-China has shared a long history of cooperation with New Asia College, which was founded by the renowned scholar Ch'ien Mu (1895-1990) and other Chinese intellectuals who had fled to Hong Kong after 1949 and were determined to preserve traditional Chinese learning and values.
At the celebration on November 29, Yale-China Executive Director Nancy Yao Maasbach presented the College with a framed tribute that can be read here.
Photos of the event will be posted on this page soon.
Between 1951 and 1954, hostility against the United States on the mainland and turmoil on Nationalist-held Taiwan led to a suspension of Yale-in-China's work within China. During those years, Yale-in-China (as the Yale-China Association was then called) devoted its resources to financing the education of Chinese students in the United States while looking in Asia for new projects to support. Attention soon focused on New Asia College, where Yale-in-China staff and trustees were impressed with Ch’ien Mu’s vision and leadership. In early 1954, after a visit to the colony and months of negotiations, Yale-in-China's trustees formally affiliated with New Asia College.
Yale-in-China's relationship with New Asia College was, by intention, one of support and assistance rather than direct administration. Yale-in-China secured funding from the Ford Foundation and other U.S. foundations to support the development of the college, and also provided fellowships for New Asia faculty to pursue further study in the United States. In 1956, Yale-in-China resumed the practice of sending two recent Yale graduates each year to teach English, though now to New Asia College instead of Yali Middle School.
In the late 1950s, the possibility of founding a university in Hong Kong that would use Chinese as the medium of instruction was explored. In 1959, the Council of British Universities selected New Asia, United and Chung Chi colleges to federate and form the new Chinese University of Hong Kong, which was formally inaugurated in 1963 on its Shatin campus. Yale-in-China contributed to the new campus by securing funds to construct numerous buildings, including the university health clinic, the Yali Guest House, Friendship Lodge and a student dormitory at New Asia College. Yale-in-China also contributed to the early internationalization of the campus by helping to establish the New Asia—Yale-in-China Chinese Language Centre and the International Asian Studies Program, which now enroll hundreds of international students every year. Meanwhile, the relationship with New Asia College, where the Yale-China Association (as the organization was renamed in 1975) has maintained an office for more than fifty years, remains a strong one.
Today Yale-China continues to send Yale graduates to teach at New Asia for two-year appointments. Other joint programs include the Yale University—New Asia (YUNA) Exchange and the Yale-China/New Asia Public Service Exchange. Yale-China also awards three scholarships annually to New Asia College undergraduates.
Yale-China has shared a long history of cooperation with New Asia College, which was founded by the renowned scholar Ch'ien Mu (1895-1990) and other Chinese intellectuals who had fled to Hong Kong after 1949 and were determined to preserve traditional Chinese learning and values.
At the celebration on November 29, Yale-China Executive Director Nancy Yao Maasbach presented the College with a framed tribute that can be read here.
Photos of the event will be posted on this page soon.
History of Yale-China’s Links with New Asia College
Between 1951 and 1954, hostility against the United States on the mainland and turmoil on Nationalist-held Taiwan led to a suspension of Yale-in-China's work within China. During those years, Yale-in-China (as the Yale-China Association was then called) devoted its resources to financing the education of Chinese students in the United States while looking in Asia for new projects to support. Attention soon focused on New Asia College, where Yale-in-China staff and trustees were impressed with Ch’ien Mu’s vision and leadership. In early 1954, after a visit to the colony and months of negotiations, Yale-in-China's trustees formally affiliated with New Asia College.
Yale-in-China's relationship with New Asia College was, by intention, one of support and assistance rather than direct administration. Yale-in-China secured funding from the Ford Foundation and other U.S. foundations to support the development of the college, and also provided fellowships for New Asia faculty to pursue further study in the United States. In 1956, Yale-in-China resumed the practice of sending two recent Yale graduates each year to teach English, though now to New Asia College instead of Yali Middle School.
In the late 1950s, the possibility of founding a university in Hong Kong that would use Chinese as the medium of instruction was explored. In 1959, the Council of British Universities selected New Asia, United and Chung Chi colleges to federate and form the new Chinese University of Hong Kong, which was formally inaugurated in 1963 on its Shatin campus. Yale-in-China contributed to the new campus by securing funds to construct numerous buildings, including the university health clinic, the Yali Guest House, Friendship Lodge and a student dormitory at New Asia College. Yale-in-China also contributed to the early internationalization of the campus by helping to establish the New Asia—Yale-in-China Chinese Language Centre and the International Asian Studies Program, which now enroll hundreds of international students every year. Meanwhile, the relationship with New Asia College, where the Yale-China Association (as the organization was renamed in 1975) has maintained an office for more than fifty years, remains a strong one.
Today Yale-China continues to send Yale graduates to teach at New Asia for two-year appointments. Other joint programs include the Yale University—New Asia (YUNA) Exchange and the Yale-China/New Asia Public Service Exchange. Yale-China also awards three scholarships annually to New Asia College undergraduates.
» YUNA Exchange
» Yale-China/New Asia Public Service Exchange
» Yale-China Teaching Fellowship Program
» New Asia College
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