Stanley Ho Alumni Challenge

First Year (Nov 2005 – Oct 2006)

The first-year's HK$ 100 million target has been successfully matched!
2,455 alumni and students have donated over HK$100 million benefiting over 110 departments, units and programmes.

Second Year (Nov 2006 – Oct 2007)

The second year's HK$100 million target has been successfully matched!
2,802 alumni and students have donated over HK$100 million benefiting over 100 departments, units and programmes.

Third Year (Nov 2007 – Oct 2008)

The third year's HK$100 million target has been successfully matched!
Over 2,500 alumni and students have donated over HK$100 million benefiting over 100 departments, units and programmes.

Fourth Year (Nov 2008 – Dec 2009)

The fourth year's HK$100 million target has been successfully matched!
Over 3,600 alumni and students have donated over HK$100 million benefiting over 100 departments, units and programmes.

Fifth Year (Jan 2010 – Sep 15, 2010)

The fifth year's HK$100 million target has been successfully matched!
Over 2,500 alumni and students have donated over HK$100 million benefiting over 60 departments, units and programmes.

One Heart, One Family

Alumni Challenge: Gold Award For All

PARTCIPATION COUNTS

The Stanley Ho Alumni Challenge (何鴻燊校友挑戰計劃) received a Gold Award in the category of Fundraising Programs at the 2007 Circle of Excellence Awards Program organised by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education ("CASE") (高等教育促進及支援協會). Over 3,100 entries from 700 institutions were received in 40 categories of competition.

The Scheme was launched in November 2005 by alumnus Dr Stanley Ho 何鴻燊博士 who pledged HK$500 million to his alma mater to inspire fellow alumni and students to support HKU. Under the Scheme, every dollar HKU alumni or students give will be matched dollar for dollar, up to HK$100 million a year for five consecutive years. This funding initiative would enable HKU, one of Asia's leading institutions of higher education, to strengthen its research excellence, advance its efforts to internationalise, and assist ambitious campus development plans.

"I am very pleased to see that the scheme has borne fruit at its first year with over 2,000 alumni, local and overseas, and students participating and over HK$100 million was raised for matching under the scheme. What's more exciting now is that the scheme has elevated its standing and gained recognition internationally," said Dr Stanley Ho.

Present at the award presentation ceremony were Dr Ambrose So Shu-fai 蘇樹輝博士of the Stanley Ho Alumni Challenge Steering Committee and representatives from HKU. They were also joined by alumni representatives from Class of 2005 who are staunch supporter of the Scheme.

The panel of judges that selected the winner of this top honour was impressed with the planning and execution of the overall program. In fact, the judges described the program as "extraordinary" as it has inspired a new and unprecedented culture of alumni giving in Hong Kong. In addition to developing a coordinated and well-planned course of action, faculty members, department heads and other colleagues were also mobilised to synergise the efforts.

The Scheme, being groundbreaking in Asia and Hong Kong, has set forth a new wave of alumni giving culture which, compared with North America, is still considered to be very much in its infancy. The actual dollar amount of donations increased by more than 600 per cent and the number of donors increased 200 per cent over the same period of the previous year.

The second year of matching will conclude by end of October 2007. A number of fundraising initiatives, including the film premiere of world-acclaimed "Lust, Caution" are in the pipeline to boost alumni giving further to reach the ceiling of matching.

CASE is a non-profit international association for advancement professionals at all levels with offices in Washington DC and London, and a newly established Asia-Pacific regional office in Singapore. CASE Circle of Excellence Awards Program recognises outstanding efforts in fundraising and alumni relations and is held annually. For more information on CASE, please visit http://www.case.org/.

(From left) Mr John Lippincott, President of CASE, Dr Ambrose So, representatives from Class of 2005 and HKU

(From left) Dr Ambrose So, representatives of the Class of 2005, Mr John Lippincott, President of CASE, and representatives of HKU

Read more stories from newsclippings

HKU alumni and students have organised fundraising activities in support of the Alumni Challenge.

The Class of 1971 celebrated its 35th anniversary on October 14 and amassed HK$350,000 for the University. Back in 1996, the Class initiated fundraising efforts for their alma mater through its 25th anniversary reunion activities, which marked a new beginning of alumni-giving culture.

A commemorative plaque was unveiled at the lobby of the Main Library to acknowledge the generous and continuous support of Dr Mary Gray Rodrigues (2nd right) to the University Libraries. It was also a dedication in honour of her late father Charles George Gray (1906-1957), Hong Kong's first impresario and early entrepreneur.
Dr Rodrigues served as Chairman of Convocation (1993 - 2001), also a Council Member (1993 - 2004).

Overseas alumni groups, including HKU Alumni Association New South Wales Chapter Australia Inc., HKU Alumni Association of Victoria, Australia and HKU Alumni Association of New Zealand have made donations in the name of their respective groups.Dr Samuel Kam (right), President of the HKU Alumni Association, Malaysia, made a special visit to Hong Kong this September to hand deliver donations from members of the group.

In August, Lawrence Fung and his wife Alexandra Lee became the first HKU alumni couple, to donate company shares to the benefit of their alma mater. They gave half of their holdings, or about 10%, in Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings to set up the Azalea (1972) Endowment Fund (www.hku.hk/alumni/azalea).

On the occasion of Dr Yu Chiu-kwong's 101st birthday in May 2006, his family created the Yu Chiu Kwong Professorship in Medicine at the University to honour the strength and spirit of this compassionate and caring individual. Dr Yu's four sons are all HKU alumni, all doctors and all Morrisonians: Dr Frank Yu, Professor Richard Yu,
Dr Donald Yu and The Reverend Professor Victor Yu.

MBA alumnus David Fong (2nd left), Director of Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation and Vice-Chairman of Fong's Family Foundation, made a donation of HK$ 5 million to the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine this May in support of medical research. His father, Dr Henry Fong Yun-wah (centre) has been a staunch supporter of the University and donated over HK$ 1.7 million in 1981 for the construction of the Fong Shu Chuen Amenities Centre.

The Professor Ma Meng Memorial Foundation has been set up with the support of Professor Ma's students. Professor Ma was the longest-serving Head of the Chinese Department and the curriculum reforms he laid down still impact students today.

In memory of Professor Dafydd Evans, former Dean of Law Faculty, the Faculty of Law has established the Dafydd Evans Memorial Fund for Legal Education to continue his vision on legal education. (hku.hk/law/community/sponsors_3.htm).
The Law Class of 1972 also set up the Professor Dafydd Evans Memorial Scholarship which will be awarded to an outstanding final-year LLB student.

The University received a special gift from alumna Madame Christabel Chu upon her passing. In her will, Madame Chu donated the residue of her estate, estimated to be worth around HK$ 56 million, to establish two endowment scholarship funds for the Medical and Engineering Faculties, respectively. The fund is named "Y S and Christabel Lung Fund" in memory of her late husband and herself.

Starr Hall students have set up two funds for causes they believe in and issues that concern students and the University's local neighbourhood. The Starr Hall Well of Ishmael Fund aims to provide scholarships and bursaries for Starr Hall residents who have financial needs or have made significant achievements in various aspects. The Starr Hall Social Services Fund will be used to provide social services to the elderly and the youth in Western District.

Many HKU alumni-staff choose to give to the University and show their support in different ways. For some it could be donating their honoraria and monetary awards. For others it might be a gift when paying a nostalgic visit. And for a few, they wish to remain anonymous. Earlier this year, Professor Fan Sheung-tat, Professor Lo Chung-mau, Professor Vivian Yam, Dr Liu Chi-leung and Dr Chan See-ching donated their prize money from the 2005 State Science and Technology Award to support future developments of their alma mater.

More than 1,100 HKU students, staff, alumni and friends joined the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon(http://marathon.hku.hk/) in February 2006 and won the top prize for the Most Supportive Group Award. Runners and their families and friends were invited to support the "United We Support HKU" Fundraising Campaign by making donations to the University.

The Cantonese Opera "Dream of the West Chamber" Gala Performance kick-started the HKU Cultural & Humanities Fund(www.hku.hk/hkuf/culturefund) in November 2005. The Fund aims to support initiatives including heritage projects, research, scholarships, professorships as well as community and school education programmes.

Initiated and fundraised by the alumni of the Class of 1980+(www.hku.hk/class80), the "Growing Partners" project aims to enhance the exposure of teenagers coming from financially challenged families with HKU alumni acting as their partnering mentors.

Some 900 members of the newest graduating class(www.hku.hk/class05) have donated a sum of over $90,000 to set up the Class of 2005 Fund.

Around 100 graduates and teachers from the History Department attended the History Homecoming on campus on March 25, 2006. (hkuhist2.hku.hk/history/homecoming306.htm). The event celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the first History honours degree awarded in 1955 and coincided with the launch of fundraising activities for the History Endowment Fund in support of the Department's teaching and research activities.