University of Hong Kong student publication Undergrad shuts down after 74 years

A student magazine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has announced its shutdown after failing to recruit enough members for its editorial board, bringing an end to its 74-year run.

A magazine published by Undergrad in November 2020 titled “Displaced.” Photo: 香港大學學生會學苑 Undergrad, H.K.U.S.U., via Facebook.

Undergrad, a publication founded by the Hong Kong University Students’ Union (HKUSU), said in a social media post on Sunday evening that it was folding immediately.

“Today, Undergrad’s historical role in society has come to an end,” read the Chinese-language post, signed off by the 2025 editorial board.

“This is not something to lament with sorrow, but simply the natural ebb and flow of history.”

The post said that since September, it had twice conducted open recruitment for a new editorial board, but to no avail.

Past controversies

Founded in 1952, Undergrad was a physical publication run by the university’s student union. It also maintained a presence on social media and reported widely on both campus affairs and local news, including politics.

Undergrad’s logo. Photo: 香港大學學生會學苑 Undergrad, H.K.U.S.U., via Facebook.

Undergrad has come under fire from authorities for its politics-related work before. In 2013, Undergrad published a book called Hong Kong Nationalism, and in 2014, it ran a magazine cover story titled “Hong Kong people deciding their own fate.”

In the 2015 Policy Address, Hong Kong’s then-chief executive Leung Chun-ying mentioned Undergrad and the two publications by name, saying that they had “misstated some facts” and advocated self-determination.

Since HKU stopped recognising HKUSU in 2021 and barred it from using campus facilities, Undergrad has scaled down its operations.

Over the past year, Undergrad has posted sporadically on social media. Recent posts include updates about student representative elections for the HKU Council and the university’s notice that it would bar student groups from hosting vigils for the deadly Tai Po fire.

Another HKU student union publication, Campus TV, continues to operate, though its social media posts are also infrequent.

At least six universities, including HKU, have seen their student unions disbanded, evicted, or stripped of institutional ties.