Despite opposition, university to phase out mixed-gender dorm policy
南方醫科大學將取消混宿制度 八成大學生持反對意見
Southern Medical University (SMU) has begun phasing out its mixed-gender dorm policy despite opposition from more than 80 percent of surveyed students, local newspaper Yangcheng Evening News reports.
The university in Guangzhou was the only in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong to adopt the policy allowing male and female students to live on the same floors.
南方醫科大學坐落于廣州市,是廣東省唯一一所允許男女生住進同一樓層的大學。
In most Chinese universities, male and female students live in separate buildings, or on separate floors of the same building, and visits to areas occupied by the opposite sex are strictly controlled. In a dorm at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, the second and third floors are for female students, while male students live on the fourth floor and above.
SMU, which was founded in October 1951, highlighted a liberal residence policy in their student recruitment drive, portraying it as a symbol of freedom, openness and equality.
In regards to the policy change, the university said "male and female students have different lifestyles. To prevent noise made by male students playing games late into the night from disturbing female students, and also to make it easier for skimpily-clad female students to dare to open their doors for fresh air during summer, the decision to abolish the mixed gender dorm policy has been made."
SMU did not terminate the policy immediately, but the percentage of students living in mixed-gender dorms had dropped from what it was previously, according to the report.
A student’s mother supported the university’s decision, saying students were still relatively young and that they may not be able to handle the potential consequences.
一位學生的母親表示支持校方的決定,并強調學生們仍舊處于青春期,一旦越界,很難承受相應的后果。
However, in on online survey organized by students, 82 percent of 6,693 participants called for the mixed-gender dorms to remain.
Wang, a student at the university’s nursing school, said many high school students were surprised and curious about having a mixed-gender dorm, but "it’s really nothing special after you get used to it."
Wang said students are helpful to one other, and that the arrangement was not nearly as evil as some people imagined.
王同學還提到,其實混寢制度有利于讓男女生互幫互助,而且過程也沒有外界人們想的那么邪惡。
Ding Yu, an associate professor at Sun Yat-Sen University, said it was totally normal for male and female students to live in the same dorm. Ding also said the influences of history and culture were still powerful, preventing many people from accepting the idea.