【Reported by Wen-yuan Zheng, Tamkang Times】On January 7th the Department of Human Resources held the “First Annual Retirement Tea Party,” where 6 retirees were invited: Professor of the Department of Chinese Language, Cheng-hui Lu, Professor of the Department of Chemistry, Su-feng Chien, Professor of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chao-kang Feng, Assistant Professor of the Department of Japanese Language, Masateru Takatsu, Lecturer from the Department of Japanese Language, Chiyou Kuroshima, and member of the Counseling Section, Hsing-hsing Chang. President Flora Chia-I Chang began by expressing words of appreciation and handing out souvenirs. Also in attendance was Chairman of the Board of the United Association of Retired Alumni, Yun-shan Lin, Head of the Employee Welfare Committee, Tung Wan, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, Guo-hsing Yu, the Vice President of Administration, Po-yuan Kao, the Vice President of International Affairs, Wan-chin Tai and almost 100 faculty members and coworkers. During the bittersweet event, all of the retirees spoke words of appreciation and gratitude.

President Chang began by expressing her thanks to all of the retirees for their great contribution to the university. She pointed out that their contributions had changed the face of Tamkang University, illustrating the example of the Taiwan Humanities Citation Index and the Chinese Times Newspaper. She mentioned that all of the retirees’ lengthy experience was a blessing for the university. She stated, “I hope you always consider TKU your home and that you would continue coming to these Retirement Tea Parties for many years and share your knowledge, insight and experience.” Cheng-hui Lu stated that being able to serve TKU was his great honor and privilege. He expressed, “I was free to do activities that I felt were truly meaningful. Retiring is only the period on the end of a sentence. Now I will begin a new chapter of learning.”

Su-fang Chien made mention of three special students that never missed a class, which had left a deep impression on her teaching career. After her retirement she plans on taking a position that will allow her to continue teaching and doing academic research. Chao-kang Feng stated, “I have spent over a quarter of a century at Tamkang University. I’ve experienced the second, third and fourth wave of TKU’s educational development. I have shared many marvelous experiences here at this university that I was proud to be a part of.” All of the retirees shared their great and memorable experiences, but none of them seemed like they were ready to go. They took a group picture as a souvenir to remember a previous life. (Picture Provided by Xiang Deng)