Placard-bearing students taken aside at graduation ceremony

Two students were taken away from the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s graduation ceremony after holding up placards, following an email warning to students against “disruptive” acts on campus, writes James Lee for Hong Kong Free Press.

The pair displayed signs near the university library on Thursday morning, 9 November, where throngs of graduates celebrated and took photos in their caps and gowns. Intended to ask what students thought were the core values of the institution, the signs read: “I hope CUHK will – ,” one sign read. “If CUHK loses … it will no longer be CUHK,” read the other.

A day earlier the university sent students an internal email warning against disruptive acts, which included a link to the university’s honour code. “The university has a zero-tolerance policy for any act which seeks to disrupt the order of proceedings or the wider gathering of people on the University Mall or elsewhere on campus,” according to the email seen by Hong Kong Free Press. It did not specify whether the university would take disciplinary action against those who broke those rules.
Full report on the Hong Kong Free Press site