Yanhuang | Tsinghua students angrily confronted Shing-Tung Yau during National Day! Who is right and who is wrong in this matter?

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 call them at any time?Background of the event: Professor Shing-Tung Yau, a world-renowned mathematician, asked his assistant to notify students preparing for direct doctoral studies on the 1st of National Day to prepare for a meeting on the 2nd in a certain conference room in Shui Mu, the topic of which was to discuss the issue of changing 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 not attending the meeting would not be punished, but then added that since they were studying for a master’s degree, they should not treat themselves as undergraduates, etc., which was captured by students and posted online, thus sparking controversy.

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

These chat screenshots, after being posted online, immediately caused heated discussions among netizens.

Some people believe, “Students who are unwilling to accept guidance do not need to attend, you will not be punished in any way! If graduate students still maintain the attitude of undergraduates, our education does have problems!” Mr. Yau used two “!”, 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 call 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 for vacation, 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 for approval when participating in external mathematics competitions in the future, and this news was also quickly confirmed by Zhang Yihua, the deputy 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 broad in its management, and students lack some freedom.

This article is only analyzing 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 mathematician, 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.