United, We Soar

By : Michael Gibb

The “United, We Soar” initiative, which is already well on the way to attracting over HK$2.5 billion, recently entered its public phase.

“This long-term fundraising plan began in 2014 in what we call a ‘quiet’ phase, i.e. seeking support from high-value supporters,” explains Professor Matthew Lee Kwok-on, Vice-President (Development and External Relations).

The success of this “quiet” period has encouraged the University to broaden engagement to solicit support from across the spectrum of Hong Kong society.

“We’ve witnessed interest already because of our rapid rise in world ranking exercises, international recognition of our researchers’ excellent work, the talents of our students, and the multitude of projects on campus for creating more space for education. Now we hope to leverage on our most recent achievements,” says Professor Lee.

The Campaign Steering Committee comprises not only the Council Chairman and the President, but several notable figures from industry and business in Hong Kong. The campaign, which is the first of its kind for CityU, was launched on 1 December 2020 and targets to raise money for a suite of CityU projects that will facilitate our transition to the next level of development.

“There’s a lot going on at CityU!” Professor Lee says.

Recent activity for this fresh wave of development includes new buildings on campus, the new student hostels, the dairy farm in the New Territories in support of training and research under the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, and the new campus in Dongguan, and many others.

“These activities all align closely with our new Strategic Plan, which sets out a road map for our future direction over the next five years and anticipates how we will develop until 2045,” Professor Lee says.

Professor Matthew Lee Kwok-on The sum of HK$2.5 billion is ambitious but progress is positive. A number of programmes has been planned for maintaining momentum. In addition to inviting donors to “name” our impressive new facilities and support more named professorships, other activities will include the forthcoming fundraising campaign for the annual dinner of the CityU Foundation and specific programmes designed to engage alumni and staff.

The plan is to encourage support from the public in Hong Kong, not just major philanthropic bodies. And every cent is appreciated.

“Even just a dollar donated to CityU makes us proud because it reflects support for our work and is a clear vote of confidence,” says Professor Lee.

A song for the future

Music lifts the heart and so a specially commissioned song is an excellent vehicle for supporting not only the “United, We Soar” campaign but also generating a greater sense of unity and belonging among the CityU community.

President Way Kuo wrote the lyrics to the Anthem. The “CityU Anthem”, with lyrics by President Way Kuo and music by Joe Lei, an accomplished professional composerand music teacher, received its first public airing over the Chinese New Year and, it is hoped, will become CityU’s very own anthem. The lyrics are written in Putonghua and Cantonese and an English version is in the pipeline.

The song is part of a well-established revamp of our institutional identity that has embraced a new-look logo and a consolidation of the multiple visual images deployed across campus to convey a sharper sense of identity. It will be played at official CityU events and other less formal CityU related occasions.

“Until recently we had nearly 200 different logos and images used for identifying academic units, research centres, and so forth. We have consolidated these under a more monolithic corporate brand to communicate more clearly, more boldly and more effectively a sense of who we are,” Professor Lee explains.

The song is now very much a part of this revamped image, he continues, adding that “the lyrics of the song capture the ethos of the University, and it is beautiful and easy to sing! ”