The Department of Information and Communication held an opening ceremony for a joint-event—‘Founding meeting of the departmental association for alumni affairs’ and ‘Innovative digital multi-media research room’ at the Communication Building, room O306 on Nov. 8, the 53rd anniversary day. Alumni of the department were also invited to attend and share their experiences of further studies or career choices with the students.

This department is relatively young, six years old in fact, generating approximately 100 plus graduates two years. All the six faculty members could still recall the name and faces of them. For instance, Professor Shih Chien-chou teased one of this year’s graduates who he recognized immediately by knocking her head with a folder complaining that the student did not come to greet him first. This gesture demonstrates that as the department is fairly young and small, the atmosphere there is understandably intimate. This close-knit spirit was best illustrated by the black clothing the faculty and students who worked as service staff that day chose to wear for this occasion, which symbolized their solidarity.

The spirit of their solidarity was particularly commented upon by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Kao Po-yang, who was invited to speak at the opening ceremony. He pointed out that it was a great pity for him as he could not name a lot of the students and graduates who ran into him and greeted him due to the huge number of them flowing over the years through the Department of Chinese where he has taught for a long time. Yet, in this department, he added, there was a great sense of togetherness that was derived from the small number of students. Thus, he encouraged the department to continue to strive to maintain this atmosphere.

Along with the Dean, the director of the digital research room, Professor Shih Chien-chou also invited the Chair of the department, Liu Hui-chuan, and other teaching staff such as Lu Hsian-fu to open the research room. Afterwards, he showed his guests around and explained some features of the equipment needed for the work. Chair Liu concluded that this joint-event of alumni affairs and opening of the research room showed the continued progress of the department. The latter symbolizes a milestone for the department’s future, showcasing the department’s ability in providing well-integrated courses and state-of-the-art equipment in order to train outstanding talents for the future. The former, on the other hand, indicates that the department’s investments in students and facilities in the past have born fruit. The founding of the Departmental Association of Alumni Affairs will ensure that the graduates stay close and continue to grow stronger with the department by looking out for one another.