2,000 HKU students and staff joined silent march to protest liberal scholar’s rejection from key post
About 2,000 silently protested fears of autonomy lost at the University of Hong kong, but some junior employees allegedly give it a wide berth
The turnout was estimated at a sizeable 2,000 - and yet some junior employees of the University of Hong Kong were absent during yesterday's silent march of staff members and students to defend institutional autonomy.
Fears that dabbling in politics might hamper promotional prospects kept lower-ranked employees away, according to senior academics who took part.
Former arts dean Professor Douglas Kerr said he knew junior colleagues were worried about their prospects for promotion and tenure.
"I don't think the university is yet in a terror culture," Kerr said. "But it begins with people being uncertain about what level of academic and intellectual independence they can exercise."
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All the faculties were represented as their professors, wearing either black clothes or academic gowns, marched from the new Centennial Campus to Sun Yat-sen Place on the main campus in Pok Fu Lam at lunch hour.
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They were out to defend the university's autonomy and protest against the HKU governing council's rejection of liberal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun for the post of pro-vice-chancellor, which was seen by critics as politically motivated.
In the procession were senior or long-serving staff members including Kerr, Dr Peter Kennedy of the school of English, Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, director of the public opinion programme, and Dr Peter Cunich of the history department, though none of the current deans were sighted.
The law faculty, where Chan was formerly the dean, saw dozens of teachers and students turn up.
Cunich said some junior colleagues gave it a miss. "As we've seen in the case of Johannes Chan, promotion is now dependent on political beliefs. So many of them are staying away as they're worried about that."
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Rally organiser Professor Timothy O'Leary, head of HKU's school of humanities, demanded the council explain its decision.
"There has been a slow and steady campaign going on in the council," he said. "HKU is in a crisis of governance. The chairman must address the [appointment] issue immediately."
O'Leary said Hong Kong's chief executive should no longer be the chancellor of all the city's publicly funded universities.
An HKU spokesman said the university "respected the freedom of university members to express their views and participate in social affairs".
On the day of the rally, Professor Cheng Kai-ming, senior adviser to vice chancellor Professor Peter Mathieson, wrote in the Economic Journal the council's decision, citing concerns about Chan's academic achievements, was "the greatest insult to HKU's academic dignity".
