Why is there an absurd "no filming order"?

As graduation approaches, more and more college students begin to take photos at their alma mater to record their last life in college. However, some students of China Renmin University reported that they were forbidden to take photos in front of the teaching building. As soon as this incident came out, it caused quite a controversy among students. According to the school security department, Mingde Building belongs to Mingde Property Management, and the security is also arranged by Mingde Property, which is not under the unified management of the school security department. Manager Lu of the project department of the property company affiliated to Mingde Building admits that there are indeed regulations that do not allow students to take photos in front of the teaching building. Manager Lu said that he was mainly worried that after taking photos in front of Mingde Building, criminals in the society would use these photos to swindle in the society in the name of the National People's Congress and damage the image and reputation of the school.

This is the first time in my memory that the school building really forbids taking pictures. Many netizens think that the reason for "no filming" is ridiculous: taking a photo in front of the university building can bluff people? Can you prove that you are a student of the National People's Congress, a professor of the National People's Congress, or have a close relationship with the National People's Congress? Can you deal with the National People's Congress? Is this to prevent ordinary people from wasting their time, or to treat the public as retarded? Who will believe the "intimate relationship" between this person and the National People's Congress just by a photo?

However, this obviously absurd logic has come true. Why is this? In actual school management, we can find two reasons. First, the thought of closed campus management. In foreign countries, there is no school gate, and the university is completely open. Everyone can enter the campus at will. Absolutely no one will use a photo taken in front of the university building to show their relationship with the university, and even if they want to show it, no one will believe it. But here, universities implement a strict guard system, and some schools have to swipe their cards when they enter the door, which is not completely open to the society. This naturally increases the "mystery" of the university. Therefore, some people may really think that taking a group photo in front of the university building is "extraordinary" with the university.

Second, the power consciousness corresponding to resources. Originally, school management was meant to serve the school's education and scientific research, so-called "education-oriented" and "student-oriented". However, in today's universities, teachers and students are at the bottom, and the status of administrative leaders and logistics masters is much higher than that of teachers and students. In foreign universities, many teaching buildings, experimental buildings and libraries are open all night, which are called "scientist centers" and "student centers". But in our place, it is normal to turn off the power at the right time and drive away students and teachers. In this kind of management, not the idea of running a school around teaching, even the basic rules have been completely broken. Supposedly, teachers and students should also have the right to speak, and should be informed, involved and made decisions, but obviously, teachers and students are excluded from management decisions and become the objects of management. It can be said that whoever has the resources is the boss and has to listen to him.

It can also be seen from this incident that the relevant managers unconsciously regard the property of the school as their own "private property". Regarding the prohibition of taking pictures, the school shifted the responsibility to the property. Whether it is true or not needs to be investigated. However, according to the current campus management thinking of the university, it is very likely that the property takes the building as its own site and sets its own rules.

An open university will make every educator and manager have an open mind, and all school-running work will serve education and academics. On the contrary, closed thinking will breed in every employee of the university. If this kind of thinking encounters unconstrained power and administrative decision-making mechanism, it is almost inevitable to stage absurdity.

Xiong Bingqi (Professor)