Yanhuang Chun｜Tsinghua Students Slam Shing-Tung Yau on National Day! Who is right and who is wrong?

First, let’s look at the attitude of netizens! What is the attitude of undergraduates? Does being an undergraduate mean not striving for progress? Can graduate students not travel or go home during holidays? Do graduate students have to be on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so that their supervisors can summon them at any time?

Background of the event: Professor Shing-Tung Yau, a world-renowned mathematician, asked his assistant to notify the students who were preparing for direct doctoral studies on National Day, the 1st, to prepare for a meeting in a certain conference room on the 2nd to discuss the issue of changing from direct doctoral studies to master’s degrees. Because some students questioned that the notification time was too hasty and they could not return to Beijing for the meeting. Professor Yau replied that those who did not attend would be punished, but then added that since they were studying for a master’s degree, they should not regard themselves as undergraduates, etc., which was captured by students and posted online, thus sparking controversy.

Subsequently, Tsinghua University students continued to discuss the matter and expressed their views in a long article.

After these chat screenshots were posted online, they immediately caused heated discussions among netizens.

Some people believe, “Students who are unwilling to accept guidance do not need to participate, and you will not be punished! If graduate students still maintain the attitude of undergraduates, our education does have problems!” Mr. Yau used two exclamation marks, presumably he was really angry?

Some netizens also said, What is the attitude of undergraduates? Does being an undergraduate mean not striving for progress? Can graduate students not travel or go home during holidays? Do graduate students have to be on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so that their supervisors can summon them at any time?

Some netizens also believe that, Professor Yau’s words are half right. Since you are studying for a master’s degree, especially a graduate student from a prestigious university, then you must change your mindset and no longer treat yourself as an undergraduate. Any weekends and holidays are considered as a matter of course, which is definitely not acceptable.

In fact, before this, in the Jiang Ping incident, a piece of news from Professor Shing-Tung Yau, the Dean of the Qiuzhen College of Tsinghua University, also caused heated discussions among netizens.

That is, students of Qiuzhen College will need to report and approve when participating in external mathematics competitions in the future, and this news was also quickly confirmed by Zhang Yihua, the Vice Dean of Qiuzhen College, who also explained that this requirement is not to restrict students’ freedom, but to hope that they can clarify their academic goals and not be disturbed by external public opinion. However, this makes everyone feel that Qiuzhen College seems to be too strict, and the students lack some freedom.

This article is only to analyze the cause and effect of this event, and does not make any other comments. From this incident, we can see that, Professor Shing-Tung Yau, a world-renowned mathematics expert, as a world-renowned expert who has achieved success, is still working selflessly during the holidays, which is worthy of our admiration.
The success of anyone is not accidental, these big shots have been struggling day after day for decades to achieve today’s achievements.