Jeanswest sparks student anger
By Yang Jian |
May 27, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TSINGHUA University is being urged to remove the name of a Chinese fashion brand from one of its buildings after a heated online debate.
The Beijing-based university, which celebrated its centennial last month, hit the headlines earlier this week when it named the building after Jeanswest, a domestic brand of casual clothing.
While it is normal practice around the world for campus buildings to be named after donors, there was widespread criticism of the university for choosing the fashion brand. Jeanswest had nothing to do with education and made the campus too commercialized, was the common complaint.
"The name can be accepted only when the donor is related to Tsinghua," said Wang Yunbin, a second-year student in the Department of Water Resources.
"Tsinghua has the Meng Weimin Building. Meng is an artist and he donated to the art building. But what is the relationship between Jeanswest and our building? Even if it is a more famous or luxury brand, it still cannot be accepted," Wang said.
Many other students said the building's name made them feel the dignity of the prestigious university was not being respected.
"I feel like the Tsinghua spirit was sold at a low price," said student Zhang Jinyuan.
"The key point of the problem is the university failed to publicize the plan and the amount of sponsorship to teachers and students before the renaming," Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said.
A "Jeanswest Building" nameplate in Chinese and English characters was attached to the No. 4 teaching building at Tsinghua on Monday.
Another plate on the building noted the company's contribution to the nation's education. That plate had been removed yesterday but the main sign still remained.
The debate heated up on Weibo.com after a picture was posted online. It soon attracted more than 90,000 comments.
A spokesman for the university said the clothing company's donation, which has not been revealed, would be used to maintain and improve facilities in the building.
He said Jeanswest was not the first company to name a building at Tsinghua.
In 2003, a teaching building was named the Yue Yuen Building after the Taiwan-based Yue Yuen Corporation, a sportswear manufacturer.
The Beijing-based university, which celebrated its centennial last month, hit the headlines earlier this week when it named the building after Jeanswest, a domestic brand of casual clothing.
While it is normal practice around the world for campus buildings to be named after donors, there was widespread criticism of the university for choosing the fashion brand. Jeanswest had nothing to do with education and made the campus too commercialized, was the common complaint.
"The name can be accepted only when the donor is related to Tsinghua," said Wang Yunbin, a second-year student in the Department of Water Resources.
"Tsinghua has the Meng Weimin Building. Meng is an artist and he donated to the art building. But what is the relationship between Jeanswest and our building? Even if it is a more famous or luxury brand, it still cannot be accepted," Wang said.
Many other students said the building's name made them feel the dignity of the prestigious university was not being respected.
"I feel like the Tsinghua spirit was sold at a low price," said student Zhang Jinyuan.
"The key point of the problem is the university failed to publicize the plan and the amount of sponsorship to teachers and students before the renaming," Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said.
A "Jeanswest Building" nameplate in Chinese and English characters was attached to the No. 4 teaching building at Tsinghua on Monday.
Another plate on the building noted the company's contribution to the nation's education. That plate had been removed yesterday but the main sign still remained.
The debate heated up on Weibo.com after a picture was posted online. It soon attracted more than 90,000 comments.
A spokesman for the university said the clothing company's donation, which has not been revealed, would be used to maintain and improve facilities in the building.
He said Jeanswest was not the first company to name a building at Tsinghua.
In 2003, a teaching building was named the Yue Yuen Building after the Taiwan-based Yue Yuen Corporation, a sportswear manufacturer.
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