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Asia on My Mind
Yale 300
November 2001
by William Stork '62

William Stork '62 is former Secretary of the AYA Board of Governors, Chair of the AYA Assembly “The Internationalization of Yale,” and president of the Yale Club of Hong Kong. He can be reached at wstork@hkis.edu.hk.

Bob Bonds and I brainstormed ideas for over a year for a club Tercentennial event in Hong Kong for Asia-regional alumni. I was the chair of the AYA’s “Internationalization of Yale” assembly, and Patrick Caviness, Tercentennial chair for the Yale Club of Hong Kong, was deeply committed to advancing Rick Levin’s agenda of globalization during Yale’s fourth century. To promote his vision, we felt that the Tercentennial event should serve to enhance and advance Yale’s profile in Asia.

Originally we discussed the idea of a colloquium highlighting two of Yale’s major local thrusts, law and business. We considered the topic of “legal ramifications of cross-border business with China” to be one much on the minds of the Asian business community since the transition of Hong Kong back to Chinese sovereignty. It would be sure to draw regional participants as well as interested alums.

But then we began to look at the broader picture of Yale’s involvement in Asia. We also wanted to use the occasion to highlight Yale’s long connection with China and the 100th anniversary of Yale-China relations and its many on-going programs in the medical and educational fields.

We explored many possibilities for the Saturday sessions and with support from Yale vice president Linda Koch Lorimer, we put together a remarkable combination. She confirmed that President Levin would head the Yale delegation and would make the Hong Kong event the starting point for a major visit to China, using it to highlight a major initiative. Strobe Talbott, former United States deputy secretary of state, would speak at the luncheon about the newly founded Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and the importance of the Center’s work in Asia. President Levin would introduce and summarize Yale’s increasing international initiatives.

Randy Kwei, former club president, knew that we would have an event that would be of major interest to Yale alums throughout Asia. He offered to coordinate a welcoming reception on Friday. Carla Brooks and Jim Bass joined me in flying to Manila, Seoul, and Taipei, respectively, to invite their Yale clubs to send delegations. Po-wen Huang, president of the Yale Club of China, even came to Hong Kong to pledge the participation of the Beijing club. The reception was to be followed by a dinner to celebrate the Yale-China 100th anniversary.

“The response from my trip was fantastic!” Jim Bass said. “Chairman Park not only brought a huge delegation from Korea, he also brought the Kumho String Quartet to perform at the Saturday evening gala dinner ball.”

The Saturday events began with a session, “Western Perspectives of Asia,” drawing on the expertise of Mike Chinoy '73, senior Asia correspondent for CNN, and Nayan Chanda, editor-at-large, Far Eastern Economic Review. Hong Kong’s own Helen Siu, Yale professor of anthropology, moderated the discussion.

Another session, “Law and China’s Future,” followed. Reform and development of China’s legal system is a critical issue affecting economic growth throughout Asia and beyond, and one that has received much attention from Professor Paul Gewirtz’s China Law Center at Yale. He and his panelists, Daniel Fung, former solicitor general of Hong Kong, and Xin Chunying, director of the Institute of Law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, explored the issue. It was already evident that Yale has done much toward developing the right of law in China.

Three of Hong Kong’s most prominent business leaders, Henry Fan, Ronnie Chan, and Raymond Kwok, are on President Levin’s Presidential Council of International Advisors. They spoke personally about challenges to business leadership when operating in a global environment. Jeff Garten, dean of Yale’s SOM, presided, and it was the fourth standing-room-only audience of the day.

The day was followed by a gala black-tie ball organized by Nory Babbitt, AYA’s director of alumni club relations, and Sheila Cook, AYA director of finance. We knew our attendees were coming from all over the globe, so Bob Bonds developed an online registration form at the Yale 300 in Asia Web site where we also kept a full announcement of the proceedings and biographies of the participants. Attendees could even signup for rooms at the Conrad Hotel.

The number of hours that went into this weekend celebrating Yale’s greatness, past, and future, and the many Yale people who committed themselves to making this celebratory event so extraordinary, showed the devotion alumni around the world have for this great institution.

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