The "hurdle" of associate professors of Peking University entering and exiting the school gate has attracted attention, and public opinion expects more colleges and universities to open the school gate

With Li Zhi, an associate professor at Peking University's School of Engineering, on entering and exiting Peking University's campus widely circulated on online social media, the topic of whether university campuses should be open has once again become a hot topic of public opinion in recent days.

According to an article published by Li Zhi in Zhihu, Peking University now has to brush his face when entering and exiting the school, but he did not authorize the school to use his face recognition information, and he cannot brush his face, and the doorman needs to check his work card before entering and leaving the school. Because it often takes more than ten seconds to check the work card, he often goes directly over the railing of the turnstile, and most of the guards know him and generally do not intercept him.

But when he entered the school one day, the security guard chased him on the campus for a long time, and he rode a bicycle to chase him after running but not catching up. Finally, it ended with Li Sik showing his work card to the security guard. When he left the school, he was stopped by the doorman and asked to brush his face, otherwise he couldn't leave the school, and finally he went out of the school again.

According to Li Zhi in the article, the verification of documents for entering and exiting the campus of Peking University began in 2008. Prior to this, Peking University could come and go at will. In the article, he said, "This kind of guard management system of Peking University has caused great inconvenience to teachers and students, and there are often long queues in front of the turnstile at the east gate of Peking University during rush hour." Security guards at the entrance are hard work, but this rigid model doesn't apply to universities, and we really want to see security guards who focus more on public spaces on campus than standing at the door. Especially when you even have to go out, it's unnecessary."

According to information provided on the website of Peking University's School of Engineering, Li Zhi is currently an associate professor in the Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science at Peking University's School of Engineering, and serves as the deputy director of the fluid mechanics department. Li Zhi studied at the Department of Mathematical Mechanics of Moscow State University, and joined the Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science of Peking University in September 1999 as a lecturer and associate professor (August 2001).

Li Zhi's research interests are fluid mechanics, water wave dynamics, and environmental thermodynamics. In terms of teaching, Li Zhi is the main teacher of the basic course "Fluid Mechanics" for undergraduates and the compulsory course "Advanced Fluid Mechanics" and the elective course "Advanced Thermodynamics" for graduate students of the Department of Mechanics. He is also the editor of the international journal Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation.

The Paper reporter noticed that since July this year, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and other colleges and universities have opened their doors one after another, and resumed the campus visit reservation channel for the first time in nearly four years. Among them, universities such as Peking University do not clearly stipulate the deadline for opening to the outside world, while universities such as Tsinghua University have clarified a fixed time period for campus opening to the outside world.

However, it should be noted that the "opening of the school gate" of Peking University and other universities here mainly refers to the opening of the visiting channel.

For example, according to the previous announcement issued by Peking University, on July 8, 2023, Peking University will resume the campus reservation visit. Under normal circumstances, campus tours are open during winter and summer vacations, statutory holidays, and weekends. The daily reservation time is 09:00-11:00, 14:00-16:00, and you need to leave the school before 19:00 on the same day. Quotas are available for both individual and group bookings. To visit the campus, you can make a real-name appointment through the "Visit Peking University" WeChat Mini Program or scan the WeChat Mini Program code 7 days in advance. Primary and secondary schools and educational administrative departments can communicate with the admissions office, department or security department ([email protected]) of Peking University in advance to handle the process.

In this regard, The Paper previously called the Tsinghua Security Department and the Peking University Security Department and learned that Tsinghua University opens 4,000 reservation places every day, and the appointment will end when it expires.

These measures are accompanied by the opening of "seconds" of visit tickets for Tsinghua University and Peking University and the phenomenon of "scalpers" peddling. In July this year, China Science News published an article pointing out that behind these phenomena is a topic that is often said to be new - should colleges and universities set up walls, and how should universities better open up?

The article revealed that as early as 1993, Peking University tore down the 600-meter-long wall outside the south gate and built a 25,000-square-meter commercial street, thus becoming the first university in China to tear down the wall, but a few years later it was "rebuilt" for various reasons.

A popular saying is that "a good university has no walls", and that the "greatness" of a university lies in the fact that "tolerance is greatness".

In this regard, Sun Wenwen, the young chief professor of Southeast University, told China Science Daily that there is no inevitable connection between a good university and whether there is a wall, and the wall itself is not wrong, nor can it imprison thoughts. If you associate a good university with a wall, it is a paradox in itself.

Liu Yongmou, a professor at the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of Chinese and a researcher at the National Academy of Development and Strategy, believes that universities without walls are more integrated into society and more inclusive, but it does not mean that schools with walls are not good schools. China's major university resources are all invested by the state and should be properly fed back to the society, such as campus green spaces and sports venues that can be shared with the society, which cannot be blocked by a wall.

"Almost all walled colleges and universities believe that not having walls is easy to cause safety hazards and that it is difficult to ensure the safety of students. The truth is, while the risk of not having walls is greater, it is not to the point where student safety is not guaranteed. Liu Yongmou said that he wants to have no walls and wants to ensure the safety of teachers and students, which puts forward higher requirements for managers, in fact, through in-depth investigation, combined with the actual policies of the school, such as the introduction of some flexible campus opening policies.

Among the experts and scholars interviewed by China Science News, many believe that it is necessary for universities to set up walls, and the key is to break through the invisible walls and build open universities in the true sense.

Xiong Bingqi, president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that the resources of public colleges and universities belong to the whole society and should be open to the society, so that the public can share public education resources. However, the primary task of colleges and universities is to run schools and cultivate talents. The premise of the opening of the campus is that it does not affect the teaching order of the school. To this end, whether and how colleges and universities should open up to the society should fully listen to the opinions of all teachers, students, and community residents, and make scientific and democratic decisions.

On November 30 this year, CCTV also paid attention to the topic of universities reopening to the public: why should universities be open to the public, and how is it more appropriate to open university campuses?

Professor Hu Juan of the School of Education of Chinese University said that the campus of public universities is a public asset and a social resource. The opening of university campuses is in line with the principle of the use of public resources, and is an obligation and responsibility that institutions of higher learning should undertake. The campus of the Open University should pay attention to the order of teaching and scientific research, campus safety and the actual situation of the university, and do a good job in opening up the campus through refined management.

Associate Professor Zhou Shen of the School of Education of Chinese University believes that the functions of modern universities include teaching, scientific research and social service, and social service itself is one of the important functions of universities. The Open University campus must be opened in an orderly and scientific manner, and should be carried out within the capacity of the campus, and at the same time, it should also be premised on ensuring the normal work and Xi order of teachers and students.

"Guangming Daily" published an article on December 5 this year "Looking forward to the return of more colleges and universities" The door of my house is always open", believes that it should be said that only an open university campus can return to the original meaning of the university. The greatness of the university lies in its inclusiveness. Opening the school gates is both a physical and an abstract expansion: to become one with the city and to erase the boundaries between it and society. Around the world, many well-known universities are accessible and visited, and the boundaries between campus and society are not so clear.

The article argues that whether a university is suitable for opening up, and what are the pros and cons after opening up, is not only a matter for the university itself, but also related to the city where it is located. Problems such as public security, civilization literacy, and resource sharing and running on all need to be coordinated and solved by the city management department where the university is located, as well as the support and cooperation of citizens.

The Guangming Daily article pointed out that in any case, more open universities are the trend of the times and should become a common practice. Some colleges and universities that have not really opened their doors cannot stay in the comfort zone of closed management, which is still essentially the thinking of "if you don't do it, you won't make a mistake". For the sake of better universities and better education, we look forward to more colleges and universities returning to "my door is always open".