On March 31 this year, the General Affairs Department of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou issued a document asking the school of management to move to the university city in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou, which sparked dissatisfaction after the news broke out. And now the university is rumored to be about to merge Lingnan College and the School of Management. Reporters called the General Affairs Department of CUHK to verify, but encountered prevarication. Some graduates of the university said that the university administration, led by the president of CUHK, Luo Jun, is suspected of “catering to the upper will” to control the university.
For more than a week, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou has been embroiled in a heated controversy.
On March 31 this year, the General Affairs Department of CUHK issued a notice asking the university’s School of Management to move from downtown Guangzhou to the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou. In response, Mr. Yang, a former student of CUHK’s School of Management, expressed his dissatisfaction to reporters on April 8: “As a student of the business school, I often have to go to internships, such as those in the Central Business District (CBD) of Zhujiang New Town. After moving to the university city Xiaoguwei, the average time we spend commuting on the internship road every day has increased by nearly two hours, causing a very big inconvenience.”
On March 31, 2021, the General Affairs Department of Sun Yat-sen University issued a document requesting the relocation of the School of Management. (NetEase News)
Founded in 1985, the School of Management of Sun Yat-sen University is one of the first colleges in China to specialize in business administration research and education, with more than a thousand students and faculty members enrolled. The School is located in the South Campus of Sun Yat-sen University in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou, which is close to Guangzhou’s famous central business district, Zhujiang New Town. According to the notice issued by the General Affairs Department of CUHK on March 31, the General Affairs Department “will adjust the School of Management to the East Campus according to the work arrangement of the university”, and “the School will have to withdraw from all the premises of the South Campus and the original premises of the East Campus after the arrangement is in place.” The “East Campus” mentioned in the notice is far away from the university city on the island of Xiaoguwei in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou.
Mr. Yang told reporters, “Now, the students’ opinions are very big about this sudden decision made by the university.”
At present, this initiative of Sun Yat-sen University has triggered extensive discussions. On “Zhihu”, a question titled “How do you feel about the rumors that Sun Yat-sen University will merge Lingnan College with the School of Management and make all students move to the East Campus” has so far attracted 677,000 views, 645 followers and 193 answers, most of which are critical. Most of them are criticisms, saying that CUHK’s move is too arbitrary.
It is worth noting that, in the discussion, a number of people pointed out that the recent rumors that the university is indeed prepared to merge the Lingnan College and the School of Management.
For this rumor, the reporter called the General Affairs Department of Sun Yat-sen University on April 8 to verify. The following is part of this call.
Reporter: I’m asking about the merger of Lingnan College and School of Management.
Operator: This matter is not the responsibility of our General Affairs Department.
Reporter: Then which department should I consult?
Operator: You ask the Department of Publicity, you look up the phone number of the Department of Publicity on the Internet, okay?
Reporter: The Publicity Department, right?
Operator: Yes.
However, when the reporter turned to call the Publicity Department of the Party Committee of CUHK, the phone was not answered.
Lingnan Hall of Sun Yat-sen University (Public Domain)
Lingnan College, known as Lingnan (University) College, has its roots in Lingnan University, which is currently located in Hong Kong. Lingnan University was founded in Guangzhou in 1888, and in 1952, the Chinese Communist Party closed down Lingnan University and moved it to Kanglan, the site of Lingnan University in Guangzhou, thus forming the South Campus of Sun Yat-sen University in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou today. On the other hand, some students, faculty and alumni of Lingnan University resumed their studies in Hong Kong in 1967.
In 1988, Lingnan University alumni, represented by Shun Tak Ng and Jim Ng, the founders of Maxim’s Group in Hong Kong, established the Lingnan (University) College of Sun Yat-sen University in cooperation with Sun Yat-sen University. Lingnan College is a business school with a more independent status and its own college board within Sun Yat-sen University.
Mr. Yang told reporters that, at present, the university has not yet made an official response to the claim that the merger of Lingnan College and Management College, Lingnan College has students who have expressed dissatisfaction with it. He quoted a friend who is enrolled in a graduate program at Lingnan College as saying, “Lingnan College originally took over the tradition of Lingnan University, which has rich resources for international exchanges, especially with Hong Kong, and it has its own set of college culture and unique resources of Lingnan University alumni. The result of merging the faculties in such an arbitrary manner is that the prestige of the college, its reputation, and its status in the eyes of its alumni may all be greatly affected in the future.”
Luo Jun, President of Sun Yat-sen University (official website of Sun Yat-sen University)
A graduate of Sun Yat-sen University, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters that since the current president of CUHK, Luo Jun, took office in 2015, he has often launched policies that are “good and big and cater to the top”, reflecting the “restriction of higher education since Xi Jinping came to power”. The political trend. For example, in 2017, the university introduced the principle of “ten no-no’s in the classroom,” which prohibits “disagreeing with the Constitution,” “disagreeing with the leadership of the Communist Party of China” and “spreading religious superstition. The university’s “Ten Forbidden Principles for Classroom Teaching”, which prohibits “disagreeing with the Constitution,” “disagreeing with the leadership of the Communist Party of China” and “spreading religious superstition,” is one example.
Zhongshan University’s “Ten Rules for Classroom Teaching” launched in January 2017
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