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Universities need to win students' trust

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-12 07:48

Zhang Lei, a graduate from Yale, has sparked a public debate by donating $8,888,888 to that university. Many wonder why he didn't donate anything to a Chinese university. But the fact is our universities rarely win the approval of students, says an article in The Beijing News. Excerpts:

Zhang Lei grabbed media attention after donating $8,888,888 to Yale University recently. Though he is a former Yale student, many people wonder why he didn't donate anything to a Chinese university. After all, he spent his undergraduate years in one of them.

It is meaningless to discuss Zhang's case because that's purely his personal matter. But it should make Chinese universities think why they cannot get such donations from their former students who have made it big in life. They should know that the concern of people for their alma mater does not depend solely on how much money or fame they earn, but also on other factors such as love and sense of belonging.

Of course, in this developing country, a relatively backward economy is an important reason why former students rarely donate money to their universities. But that shows Chinese universities cannot win the love and trust of their students.

In some sense, Chinese universities have not done enough to win the approval of their students.

By concentrating too much on expansions and other factors, they have neglected quality in education. Even official inspections have not been able to change that, and the declining employment rate is perfect evidence of that.

Since it's not difficult to understand why former students don't donate liberally in our country, the universities should make efforts to win their approval first.

(China Daily 01/12/2010 page9)