Should college campus be open to all?

Tourists walk by the west gate of Tsinghua University on August 1, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, has reportedly started denying residents access to the campus and requiring its students to present valid student cards before they can enter. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

As more universities choose to open their campus to the public, Sun Yat-Sen University seems to have decided to go the opposite way. It is reported that an alumni who wanted to use the university's library was also denied entry to the campus, because he or she was no longer in possession of a valid student card.

However, the university's claim that the move is to prevent "unexpected incidents" following the open-campus policy is plausible. It said the decision to shut its door has a lot to do with the security risks revealed by some recent incidents. Earlier this month a possible psychopath barged into a classroom with red banners around his body; a few days later an unknown man intervened in another seminar and attempted to make an improper speech.

In truth, criticizing the university and comparing it unfavorably with some fenceless Western universities such as Yale University, is uncalled for. The unrestricted access to universities in Europe and the United States, many of which do not have "proper" school gates, does not necessarily apply to their Chinese counterparts. It is more a result of time-honored traditions and institutional protection.

Take for example Yale University, which has a dispersed campus, having expanded from a small swath of land it bought in the city center, so not all its buildings are within a closed campus. The management has to involve neighboring communities instead of building up fences.

Chinese universities, though, should be careful before imposing restrictions on access to their campuses as it will do little to keep real criminals at bay. Deploying a lot of manpower at the school gates might mean fewer campus patrols presenting more opportunities to intruders.