【Reported by Ying-tian Fan, Tamkang Times】Tamkang University’s Skating Rink has been a place that has hosted many events including Chinese Folk Song Night, performances from the Beatbox Team and Dance Team, the Street Square event and much more. It even made an appearance in the novels written by Sufen Cai in the 1980’s.Now all of the alumni and students must bid farewell to the area that hosted so many wonderful campus traditions as it looks toward the future in the new Shou Chien International Conference Center.

The Skating Rink has been a significant landmark for the university for half a century, making it crucial to the history of the university. A ceremony will be held on November 8th, officially celebrating the close of this historic center.

Dean of Student Affairs, Chih-en Ko, expressed, “Both the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of General Fairs are working together to hold this event, which will include many arts and activities to say farewell to the skating rink.” Organizer of the event and member of the Office of Student Affairs, Ruey-er Chen, stated, “There will be many activities that have been separated into two categories: the Older Tree Movement and Fences.

The Older Tree movement will be related to bringing awareness to environmental protection, planting trees and plant life while the Fences will let students work with a creative story outline leaving their art work along the construction fences.

Alumni from the Department of History, Ting-yu Li, stated, “This event will attract a lot of people, giving everyone a deeper appreciation of the history of TKU.” A short film was aired showing representing the transition from the old to the new.

Everyone painted their personal memorial and expressions of gratitude along the fence. On of the painters and Dean of the College of Engineering, Chii-dong Ho, stated, “This is a truly historic and powerful event.”

(Photographed by Yi-feng Lu)