National Chengchi University (NCCU) is one of the oldest and most famous universities in Taiwan and is situated on the outskirts of Taipei City. Ranked second after National Taiwan University (NTU), it is the first choice for students going into business or humanities programs. However, the university has put its fame in jeopardy by ignoring campus safety for a very long time.
On March 24, a female student was forced at knife-point to have oral sex with a male intruder in a washroom stall and then robbed. This happened during class time. Not early morning, not during the night, but in broad daylight when there were thousands of people around.
How was this possible? Simply because of the school's negligence with regard to campus safety. NCCU's campus is not in a metropolitan area like NTU's; it includes hundreds of hectares of mountains as part of the campus. In addition, the way the buildings have been constructed creates dozens of dark corners and shadowy pathways.
Washroom stalls located in dark corners have always been intimidating for female students. Since NCCU students are quite aware of these hazardous zones and have heard rumors of shady characters doing drugs near the mountains within the campus, it is therefore impossible for school officials to be ignorant of these threats to student safety.
Yet, it is obvious that they have long ignored it. At least, until before what happened last Friday.
Now they are installing alarms in washroom stalls at the building where it happened. But shouldn't this have been done a long time ago? A campus watch program for students, modifications to unsafe areas and security guards who actually watch over the entire campus rather than sit and chat in the front-entrance security office were all that was needed to prevent this tragedy. What happened to the girl was a crime, but it was an incident waiting to happen for a long time because of the school officials' negligence.
In a country where the common attitude when it comes to picking higher education institutions is to squeeze into a top-ranked university, what happened last Friday on the NCCU campus will probably not harm NCCU's long-standing reputation. However, it is time not just for NCCU officials, but also other universities to start reconsidering their roles in providing higher education.
It shouldn't just be about teaching; it's about nurturing future talent by providing a safe educational environment. Because of the educational system in Taiwan, good schools can simply sit back and wait for prospective students to come rushing in. As a result, these schools have always put student affairs last and focused on administration and attracting famous scholars.
A professor at NCCU once said that students are just transients, and this probably sums up the general attitude of all educators in Taiwan.
Certainly, this is not just a problem for NCCU, but also a problem for NTU and all other reputable universities.
As an NCCU student, I am asking all university officials to emphasize campus safety, student affairs and to take action now.
Don't wait until another tragedy happens.
Name Withheld
Taipei
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