HKU Mass Petition Demands Curtailing Of CE's Role

The student union of the University of Hong Kong on Monday submitted a mass petition, calling for the chancellor post, which is held by the Chief Executive, to be limited to a ceremonial one.

The union has been calling for the change in how the university's governing body is composed. It handed over a petition containing the signatures of 1,500 students, teachers and alumni to the university's registrar Henry Wai on Monday morning.

The union's president, Davin Wong, said the chancellor of HKU should be stripped of his or her power to appoint the governing council’s chairman, and this move is needed to restore trust in the university’s governance.

"We find that there's a lack of trust and confidence between the council and the university," Wong said.

"While the council runs on a trustee model, we find that all council members and especially the council chairman bear the fiduciary duty and responsibility for the university ... without trust and confidence, the trustee model cannot work properly," he said.

The Chief Executive is the chancellor of all public universities in Hong Kong.

Many critics want the CE's chancellor role to be turned into an honorary one and to take away their power to appoint council members.

But HKU's governing body in 2017 rejected an independent review panel's call to change the Chief Executive's role in the institution.