SCU Marks 120th Anniversary with New Facility, Gratitude to All Contributors

After the postponement for about 7 months due to COVID-19 concerns, Soochow celebrated its 120^th birthday at Waishuangsi Campus on October 9^th, 2020. The festivities included rock-style singing of school song, an award ceremony of donors and alumni, a lunch banquet, a music concert and the inauguration of the school history room, as numerous honored guests, composed of former and active political heavyweights, faculty and alumni, gathered to wish the celebration a great success.

New School History Room Tells Stories of Soochow with Digital Features

“We should keep a grateful heart as the alma mater is like the mother who raised us. That’s why we named the room “Hwai-En” (meaning “grateful”). Chairman of the School Board Wang Shao-Yu revealed the origin of the gallery’s naming for the first time at its opening ceremony.

The innovative and grand idea in its design is manifest from the appearance of the building. A mass of ground glass with a faintly discernible visual effect is installed to allow the light and shadow to pass over it. When walking along the exhibition area where the evolution of SCU is on display, one could find the corridor featuring touch screen technology through which the annals of Soochow’s historical path is presented.

Moreover, the “Sound Forest” area, arranged with the same visual technique as in the corridor, collects typical sounds often heard on the campus, including those from Taiwan Blue Magpies, soaring eagles, and bell rings in front of Wang Memorial Hall. Toward the end of the tour, visitors could get some souvenirs or vouchers from the capsule machine, which would conclude the trip with a perfect note.

Soochow Honors Faculty, Alumni Donors for Their Devotion since School Reactivation

Back in the years of Soochow’s reactivation amid numerous challenges and setbacks, it was these predecessors that had helped the school stand firm and brave the hardships along the way. To express gratitude to the contributors, the school administration presented awards to distinguished donors, senior faculty members and outstanding alumni as over 140 outstanding alumni were invited to the ceremony, and many partner institutions of SCU also gave their blessings through videos.

1,500 Alumni Bond at Joyous Lunch Gathering

About 1,500 Alumni poured into the school’s 120^th birthday lunch party organized by the Alumni Association, and they were all fully entertained by the event that kicked off with the drumbeat show and folk songs singing. In addition, 99 Soochow alumni couples were invited to serve as an auspice for the sustainable development of the school as “99” meant “very long, long time” in Chinese. In the end, Soochow’s orchestra and chorus gave the performance of some world-famous pieces of music, providing all guests with a pleasant and memorable musical night.