Students of St John's, a local university that existed between 1879 and 1952, remember their former alma mater like it was yesterday. Despite the fact that the school has not been around for 52 years, their student days are fondly remembered.

Fang Qiuying, a graduate from the chemistry college recalled that students were asked to sing the familiar school song once a week. "It was not until I was in my old age that I began to ponder the meaningful lyrics of the song. It had a profound effect in my life, both in my studies and in my work," Fang said.

"Now that we have completed our life's task, the song reminds us to slow down our pace and enjoy life."

The school anthem encouraged students to be brave, to study hard and to devote themselves to their missions with passion and faith.

When the school opened in 1879, the church school occupied a triangular-shaped corner on the banks of Suzhou Creek. There were only 39 students in  first year's class . There was no charge for tuition initially. The site now belongs to Changning District where it houses the East China University of Politics and Law.

The school conducted all its courses, including science, arts and medicine, in English under the charge of its president Francis L.H. Pott from the early 1900s.

Before its close in the early 1950s, the school had spread its academic fame throughout the city in educating many prominent alumni such as Soong Tzuwen (1894-1971), the famous businessman and politician in the Kuomintang government, Rong Yiren, the former vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Zou Taofen (1895-1944), the well-known journalist and publicist.

A bronze statue of Zou currently stands at East China University.

Pott, an American who had come to the city as a young man, had issued strict rules for the students. They had to be a good person and work hard -- values the university strived for to produce educated, creative people. They didn't want bookworms. Such educational values were championed by the school's teachers.

Lu Ping, a "Johannean" as the school's students were called, attended the agriculture college. "I was too naughty to be an obedient student," he said. "I always asked freak questions to embarrass teachers. But instead of feeling annoyed, some of the teachers encouraged me to do so."

In an exam Lu once questioned the theory behind Thomas Malthus' famous "Essay on the Principle of Population." Such a work had even influenced Charles Darwin.

In his paper, Lu said that people needed to enhance their productive power to cater for the growing population instead of controlling head numbers.

Although his theory was proven not to be correct, his teacher, surnamed Chen, gave him an "A" mark for his bravery to raise a different opinion.

Free thinking was not restricted only to academics.

Sport was another area that St John's pushed its students. The university introduced many Western sports, such as tennis, baseball and American football. It also had one of the earliest Chinese soccer teams in which its players sported braids.

After 1952, most of the various colleges from St John's University had been merged with others, including Tongji University and Fudan University.

The current alumni association, set up in 1984, launched a network for its grey-haired graduates to keep in contact.

(Shanghai Daily November 12, 2004)