CityU honoured Sir Gordon Wu, Council Chairman, on St Valentine’s Day this year with a “We love CityU” tea reception, organized by the Development and Alumni Relations Office, in acknowledgement of Sir Gordon’s generous donation of $25 million to campus and student development. Other members of the CityU community, including Council members, staff, students and alumni, were also thanked for their strenuous fund-raising efforts.

Professor H K Chang, CityU President, said the University had raised nearly $84 million since 1 August 2005, during the Government’s Second Matching Grant Scheme period, through various channels. The money would lay a solid foundation for future development, Professor Chang said.

About $77 million can be used to apply for the Second Matching Grant, the deadline for which is 28 February. This figure exceeds the $45 million floor amount set aside by the University Grants Committee (UGC), and it is 35% more than CityU raised during the First Matching Grant Scheme period.

More than 70 members of the University’s Council, senior management, staff, students and alumni attended the reception. To thank Sir Gordon, Professor Chang presented him with a souvenir, a commissioned traditional Chinese couplet that marks Sir Gordon’s contributions to CityU and higher education.

Sir Gordon said CityU had great potential and he was grateful to be working with so many hard-working Council members and staff. “On the path to its further development, the University needs our commitment, understanding and concentrated efforts to achieve our common goal: to provide quality university education to our students,” he said.

On behalf of the University, Professor Chang also thanked Dr Dennis Sun, Chairman of the Council’s Community Relations Committee, other members of the Committee, as well as staff, students and alumni for their dedicated support and giving to the University. Professor Chang said that with the $84 million raised by CityU since last August, together with the expected $45 million Matching Grant, the total fund generated will be close to $130 million.

According to the donors’ wishes, 40% of the money raised would go to support student development; 31% would be used for campus development; 20% would be spent on research and other departmental functions; and 9% was earmarked for the general development of the University.

“We are not raising funds for the Matching Grant Scheme but for the development of the University,” Professor Chang said. “The University will continue to seek private support to continue its long-term development and major projects, such as internationalization and campus development, so that CityU can continue to provide quality higher education services to Hong Kong.”

At the reception, members of staff, students and alumni shared their passions for supporting the University and were presented with special souvenirs. “We are very encouraged to see that the ‘We love CityU’ campaign, launched last August, has been warmly received by staff, students and alumni,” said Ms Kathy Chan, Director of the Development and Alumni Relations Office. “We hope the caring spirit of the campaign will continue.”