Chinese University of Hong Kong warns students not to disrupt graduation ceremony, reminds them to adhere to codes of conduct
- Two students taken away by security guards after asking others to write expectations on paper and stick it onto cardboard placards
- President Rocky Tuan absent on first day of three-day event, Provost Alan Chan gives speech instead
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has warned students not to disrupt a three-day graduation ceremony, which began on Thursday without its head present, reminding them to adhere to new codes of conduct.
Security guards took away two students at the university, which has been hit by controversy in recent years, after they asked others to write down what they expected from CUHK and to stick the notes onto placards outside the ceremony venue.
The university said vice-chancellor and president Rocky Tuan Sung-chi was absent because of sickness. Provost Alan Chan Kam-leung gave a speech at the event instead.
“The vice-chancellor woke up with a high fever, lost his voice, and has since been admitted to hospital for observation,” a university spokeswoman said.
In his speech, Chan urged students to seize the opportunities offered by the country’s development and make positive contributions to society.
Tuan attended a concert by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cultural Centre on Wednesday night, an event marking the university’s 60th anniversary.
Tuan and Chan sent a joint email to students reminding them of the university’s new codes of conduct, issued in August, to ensure a “safe, enjoyable and respectful” graduation ceremony.
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“The university has a zero-tolerance policy for any act which seeks to disrupt the order of proceedings or the wider gathering of people on the University Mall or elsewhere on campus,” they said in the email.
“Students are reminded that the behaviour expected of students has recently been summarised in the university’s Honour Code and Code of Conduct for Students, which should be respected at all times.”
On Thursday, two students were taken away by security guards after they placed cardboard placards outside the ceremony venue. A university employee was seen reading the rules of the graduation ceremony to them.
A spokeswoman for CUHK said the pair displayed slogans without permission, and another student engaged in conduct which affected the experience of other attendees.
“This behaviour violated the rules of the graduation ceremony. University security personnel promptly arrived at the scene to maintain order, and the students involved stopped their behaviour after they were spoken to by staff from the Office of Student Affairs,” she added.
She said students breaching the Code of Conduct would be handled in accordance with the university’s policies and procedures.
Tuan and Chan’s email was sent as the university had seen many student protests at graduation ceremonies over the years.
In 2019, the ceremony was abruptly halted after students chanted slogans as the national anthem was played. The university decided to end the event immediately over “special circumstances” after degrees had been conferred by Tuan.
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The following year, the ceremony was moved online but at least eight students were arrested on campus by national security police in connection with a protest on the day of the event, in which people had chanted separatist slogans.
According to an internal email sent in August, Provost Chan said the university had formulated and approved a new Honour Code and Code of Conduct for students to raise “awareness of the importance of academic honesty and personal integrity and CUHK’s expectations of its students in these respects”.
“Students of CUHK are expected to maintain and uphold the highest standard of integrity and honesty in their academic and personal lives, respect the rights of others and abide by the law,” Chan said in the email.
The Honour Code, he said, reaffirmed students’ strong commitment to upholding the university’s core values, while the Code of Conduct summarised its existing rules, policies and procedures governing student conduct.
“As a whole, without introducing any new policy or changing any of the university’s existing regulations, it accentuates the expectations CUHK places on all of its students in both academic conduct and personal behaviour,” he added.
The two codes were introduced in the current academic year.
The university’s campus became a battleground between police and anti-government protesters during the 2019 social unrest, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Tuan, reappointed last year, also faced criticism from the pro-establishment camp, which accused him of being sympathetic to student protesters.
Earlier this month, the Legislative Council passed a controversial bill shaking up the university’s governing council by increasing the number of external members and changing the process of appointing the president, without the backing of the governing body.
