Author: Lao Dongyan, transferred from the author's Weibo
Yesterday, I learned from a division commander of Peking University that the access control system of Peking University has made some changes. Teachers do not need to brush their faces when they drive into the school, nor do they need to walk out of the school, but they still need face recognition when they walk into the school. It's not as good as it could be, but it's still better than what we did before. Of course, this small change is better than nothing.
Rights need to be fought for, and there is no question of who is embarrassed and who is not embarrassed. In many cases, your "embarrassment" may be an opportunity to push for the rules to improve. On the contrary, unconditional cooperation will only make the space for individual freedom increasingly narrow, resulting in more and more rights that must be enjoyed with special permission. Whoever thinks that silence and concession can bring peace of mind is too ignorant of human nature and our society.
Regarding the issue of the Peking University gate control, I have publicly opposed it several times on Weibo and WeChat Moments. Because this access control system also violates my rights. As an alumnus who has graduated for many years, I should have the right to go back to my alma mater without the approval of any department. However, the reservation system makes it possible for me to obtain permission to enjoy this right. I remember once when I wanted to go to Peking University, the system told me that there was a major event in the school recently, and I couldn't make an appointment to enter the school within three days. At that moment, a sense of deprivation came spontaneously.
In any case, I hope that Peking University will still be the Peking University in my mind, free, open, inclusive, and leading the trend, instead of closing the door and sealing itself tightly.
The university is not the private property of the management or the faculty and students who are currently in the school, and it is certainly not the private property of the alumni. In particular, in public universities, it is the proper duty of universities to open their campuses to the public without affecting the basic teaching order. The self-isolation of universities is obviously a phenomenon that has only emerged in recent years, but our social order has not deteriorated significantly, and the outside world is not a flood of beasts. How can universities with closed doors and strict guards believe that they still have an open and inclusive spirit?
Background
Recently, Li Zhi, an associate professor at Peking University's School of Engineering, has published several articles on social media, making the topic of whether university campuses should be open or not the focus of public attention again.
Li Zhi recorded on social media Zhihu the story of his "hurdle" entering the school some time ago and staging a "catch-up competition" with the security guards, calling on Peking University to open its doors. The matter has attracted a lot of attention, and it has been followed by a heated debate about whether universities should open their doors. Some people think that "good universities have no walls", while others believe that setting entry and exit barriers can protect students and students to a greater extent.
This is not the first time that the reflection and discussion on whether universities should be open has entered the public eye.
With the adjustment of epidemic control policies, the campuses of most colleges and universities across the country have opened their doors to the outside world, but many are only open to alumni, relatives and friends of current teachers, students and staff. As Tsinghua University and Peking University and other universities have opened their doors one after another in the summer and resumed the reservation channel for campus visits, it has been accompanied by phenomena such as "no quota in seconds" and "scalpers increasing prices".
On July 3, 2018, the first set of "face brushing to enter the campus" turnstile of Peking University was officially put into operation at the southwest gate of Peking University on July 2. Source: VCG
As for the question of "why should universities be open to the public, and how is it more appropriate to open university campuses?", there is a view that even in foreign countries, most colleges and universities are actually "semi-open", that is, gymnasiums, museums, concert halls, and historical sites are only open to the public, and the teaching buildings and dormitories in the core areas are not open to the public, but are only open for a limited time or on holidays.
There is also a view that society needs open universities, and universities need to embrace society in an open way. In addition, shouldn't the university's management ability be embodied at such a time? Can the university's management school and public policy major also study how the campus is managed because of the annual volume of academic achievements? The university's openness is the underlying logic, and how to manage it is a technical problem, and we should not even lose the soul of the university because of difficulties in management.
How should universities find a balance between management and openness? Many of the university professors interviewed mentioned that universities need to have a refined management system. Ma Liang, a professor at the School of Public Administration at Chinese University, said in an interview with the media that the cultural resources, courses and other facilities on university campuses, if open and shared, can create learning and Xi opportunities for many people. Universities should establish some basic rules to make openness and sharing the principle and non-openness and sharing exceptions.