Transcript

I am Professor Lynette Chua, the third Rector of Elm College, serving from July 2020 to June 2023. My role is similar to that of other Rectors at the other residential colleges at Yale-NUS, that is, to develop programmes and events that advance the intellectual and cultural life of the residential college. In concrete terms, it means that Rectors like me create programming such as the following. Rector's Tea, which is a speaker series on any topic the Rector deems fit. In my case, I invited scholars, filmmakers and other artists, social workers and non-profit organisation leaders to speak on their work, such as the legal history of Singapore and Southeast Asia, and contemporary topics such as the regulation of contagious diseases, homelessness and gender equality. Another regular programming is the start of and end of semester dinners. I worked with student leaders at Elm to host these dinners to welcome the Elm community back to campus and to send them off for the holidays, as the case may be.

Perhaps two sets of our memories were the most distinctive. During my term as Rector, one was COVID. I moved into the Elm apartment right in the middle of the pandemic in June 2020 to begin my term in July. From that point until early 2022, which encompasses more than half of my three-year term, my colleagues and I and Elm were constantly navigating and adapting to the changing regulations in order to implement our programmes.

Looking back, I greatly appreciate the tenacity and the creativity of my colleagues. The other was the day of the announcement of the Yale-NUS merger with the University Scholars Programme (USP) in August 2021. Elm Courtyard has always been an important venue for the residential community at Yale-NUS, and it was particularly so on that day. Faculty, staff and students turned up at the courtyard to show concern and support for one another. The sights and sounds of friendship and care that day will always be a memory that I hold dear.