The founding meeting of Board of Directors of the Dharma Drum College of Humanities and Social Science that had been long expected was convened on July, 28 1998. Master Sheng Yen chaired the meeting and all the 11 directors attended. The Ministry of Education also sent officials to oversee the meeting.

In addition to accepting the Board of Directors and Organization Chart, all directors elected Master Sheng Yen as Chairman of Directors. Immediately after that, Master Sheng Yen nominated Dr. Zeng Ji-qun as President, who was approved by all directors. Thereby the College formally went into operation.

The history of founding the College can be traced back to September 1992 when formal application was made to the Ministry of Education for the establishment of the Dharma Drum Private College of Humanities and Social Science. It has been almost six years since then. Due to the difficulties in purchasing land a lot of time was wasted. After land purchases came to an end, there followed an Environmental Impact Assessment and land investigation and assessment by government agents. It was not until May 28, 1998 that the Ministry of the Interior issued a letter of approval and on June 5, 1998 the Ministry of Education also formally approved its establishment. The Master said with regret that we were the earliest among Buddhist organizations to propose the establishment of the university and put it into action. However, due to the difficulties in land acquisition, the schedule of establishing the College was delayed. In spite of this fact, the Master still very much appreciated the support and assistance by our government and individuals from all over the world leading up to the birth of the Dharma Drum College of Humanities and Social Science.

Source: Dharma Drum Monthly No. 104, April 1998