Lingnan University kicks off the Equal Opportunities Awareness Week
Lingnan University organised the kick-off ceremony of the Equal Opportunities Awareness Week (EO Awareness Week) today (9 March 2015), with Dr York Chow Yat-ngok, Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission and Prof Leonard K Cheng, President of Lingnan University being the officiating guests.
The EO Awareness Week is organised by the Lingnan University Equal Opportunities Committee (LU-EOC) from 9 to 13 March to arouse teachers’ and students’ awareness of equal opportunities and social inclusion as an intrinsic value of Lingnan’s liberal arts education. The event’s kick-off ceremony also marked the formal inauguration of LU-EOC.
In his address at the ceremony, Dr York Chow Yat-ngok congratulated the inauguration of the LU-EOC. “I hope the LU-EOC can further enhance equal opportunities policy, mechanism and measures to provide support to ethnic minority students and students with disabilities as well as to create a sexual harassment free campus in Lingnan,” said Dr Chow.
President Leonard K Cheng remarked that the idea of equal opportunities for all echoes the core values of Lingnan University, which is committed to providing quality whole-person education informed by the best of Chinese and Western liberal arts traditions. “The LU-EOC was established with 11 members, including academic and administrative staff as well as representatives from the Students’ Union and Hostel Associations. The Committee has planned to organise an event to raise awareness of equal opportunities in each semester,” said Prof Cheng.
Meanwhile, Prof Lisa Leung Yuk-ming, Associate Professor of the University’s Department of Cultural Studies and Chairperson of the LU-EOC, pointed out in her address that equal opportunities awareness is not just about ensuring equal opportunities at different levels and aspects of University life, but also recognising and celebrating difference. “As a liberal arts university, we encourage students to embrace diversity as one of our core values to foster understanding and harmony in Hong Kong,” said Prof Leung.
The one-week event features two art exhibitions by ethnic minority and disabled artists. “The Magic of Ballpoint Pen Art” exhibition from 4 to 13 March is curated by the Nepalese artist Dipendra Rai famous for his unique artwork on portraiture and Nepalese scenery drawn with ball-point pens. Mr Rai will share with visitors on 10 March his artistic inspiration and life journey in Hong Kong. The “Come in please” exhibition from 5 to 29 March, co-organised by the University and i-dArt of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals to promote the idea of arts inclusion and draw people with different abilities together, showcases works of over 80 disabled artists in various art forms including paintings, ceramics, Chinese calligraphy, Saori weaving, dance and percussions performances.
Other activities of the EO Awareness Week include talks concerning the visually impaired and intellectually disabled persons, screening of short films by local and overseas filmmakers with hearing impairment, campus tour for visually impaired persons, tour of ethnic minority communities and a closing forum on “Dialogue across Boundaries”. For programme details, please visit http://www.ln.edu.hk/eoc/eoweek.php.