Shandong University sorry for ‘buddy programme’ to match foreign students with locals
- It says it will carry out a thorough review after an online uproar over programme to pair foreigners with members of the opposite sex
- Notice circulating on social media shows 47 students from abroad took part and were each matched with three Chinese, most of them female
A university in eastern China on Friday apologised over an intercultural programme to match foreign and local students of the opposite sex on campus, after it prompted a flood of criticism online.
Shandong University, in the city of Jinan, said in its apology that it would conduct a thorough review of its “Buddy Programme”, which was introduced in 2016.
“There has been a lot of discussion on the internet about our ‘Buddy Programme’,” the university said in a statement on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
“We deeply regret the negative influence of this ... we failed to do a proper job and included ‘making foreign acquaintances of the opposite sex’ as an option in the programme application,” it said.
“We are grateful for all the criticism and suggestions of friends who have expressed their views on the internet and for them caring about Shandong University,” the statement said, adding that the university would learn from its mistakes.
But it said the programme was only aimed at encouraging students to “learn culturally and academically” from each other.
