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A/P Leong Ching
Vice Provost (Student Life)
I remember my first meeting in RC4 – with a group of student leaders who had an inspired take on the name of RC4. At the time, some new students were critical of a boring name which seemed to be just a number (after all, RC1, 2 and 3 had been renamed into names of donors or of trees).
“But why not think of it as RC-for? An RC for a better world, an RC for adventures, an RC for whatever that we can dream of,” the student leaders said.
And that as always been my heuristic for RC4 – a purposeful and imaginative striving. What has RC4 stood for in the past 10 years?
Ten years ago, NUS decided on a new component of education – residential living and learning. We built University Town – including residential colleges – where intellectual curiousity, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and multi-perspectival thinking would thrive, where students are challenged to develop vital life-long skills such as critical thinking, communications and strong writing skills, and the intellectual breadth and rigour to tackle the complex, inter-related challenges confronting the world today and of the future.
This vision came alive in the University Town College Programme and is nowhere more keenly evident than in the vibrant community we celebrate today – Residential College 4.
Established in 2014 with its inaugural batch of 62 students, RC4 has been a cornerstone of educational leadership in systems thinking. The college has consistently embodied its vision to nurture “leaders of change in a complex world”.
Notably, RC4 students achieved international acclaim by securing first runner-up and winning the Audience Choice Award at the 2021 Map the System global innovation competition organised by the University of Oxford. In addition, its students have co-authored 24 research publications on systems thinking and system dynamics in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.
Looking ahead to 2024, RC4 is poised to deepen its commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship. The college’s new three-pronged strategy to fostering innovation within and out of the classroom, and through alumni mentorship, and the launch of a new design thinking and systems thinking course, “From Ideas to Pitches: Tech, Innovation & Entrepreneurship”, signifies its dedication to equip its students with skills and mindsets necessary for entrepreneurial success. Collectively, they lay the foundation for RC4's ambition to incubate 20 entrepreneurship student projects this year.
The college has established a strong student-initiated interest group culture, with more than 50 interest groups across sports, arts, lifestyle, intellectual interests, and community service.
Its students have left an indelible mark on the wider community – both local and abroad. The "CASA – Care. Accept. Share. Affirm" project has seen over 280 RC4 students mentor underprivileged students in Clementi flats, showcasing the college's ethos of social impact. As part of its STEER Himalaya programme, a group of RC4 students ventured to the Indian Himalaya to study its ecology and worked with local NGOs to launch a mobile platform to encourage conservation. They later went on to earn the prestigious NUS Alumni Start-up Catalyst Award 2020 from NUS Enterprise.
As part of its commitment to equip students with skills and mindsets to thrive in an ever-evolving world, the college launched a flagship informal learning programme in 2016, Cognitio. Students have the opportunity to engage with thought leaders through dialogue sessions, the likes of Minister Desmond Lee and Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan, and attend skill-building workshops curated for professional and personal growth.
In the past 10 years, RC4 has stood for innovation, inclusivity, and the belief in small systems with big hearts. Here's to another decade of RC4 – may your purpose always be bright and wonderful.