On the same issue, the common practice in top universities in other countries is based on extensive public opinion and open discussion. As for Tsinghua, if it only cares for the benefits and ignores the university's dignity and spirit and students' opinions, it will move far, far away from any goal of ranking among world-class universities.

Supporters

Qie Wenge (Yanzhao Evening News): Tsinghua University recently came under heavy attack from the public on the Jeanswest Building issue. The naming practice was seen as a profit-driven practice which will harm university spirit.

Opponents worry that the Jeanswest Building will lead the country's universities to money worship. But before this naming there were already many buildings on university campuses and even high school campus buildings named after celebrities or famous enterprises.

Is Tsinghua able to resist pressure and continue cooperation with enterprises? Throughout the world, many world-class universities rely on social funds to reduce government's input. What matters here is a strict university management system and transparent decision-making procedure.

It's unnecessary for us to be surprised by Jeanswest Building. When the university benefits from financial support, it can also make itself more widely known. This is better to make money from students by charging higher tuitions.

Naming university buildings after donors, enterprises or celebrities is not necessarily a commercial practice. Universities need money to do greater numbers of useful things. It's a good way to get financial support by giving donors the right to name a campus building. If the donations can be fully spent on cultivating talent and scientific and technological research, they will surely help a lot. At the same time, if universities have a sound management system, donors could hardly influence university affairs. It will do no harm to schools' image.

Zhou Hucheng (Nanfang Daily): A lot of students at Tsinghua are opposed to Jeanswest Building because they think it is totally a commercial operation. The university soon made it clear that after the new naming, the original name of the building—the No.4 Teaching Building—will be retained at the same time.

The Jeanswest Building does not deserve such severe opposition. Prestigious universities such as Yale, Harvard, and Oxford, all accept social donations for survival and development. Of course, there might be essential differences between these universities and Tsinghua, as the former are all private universities while Tsinghua is based on strong state financial support. But even the University of California, Berkeley, accepts donations from enterprises and individuals.

Compared with these universities, China's two top higher education institutes, Tsinghua University and Peking University, still have many buildings to be named after donors.

Tsinghua's students don't need to feel furious about the Jeanswest Building. Instead, they should feel pleased about it, because the donation from Jeanswest means the school can provide them with more and better advanced equipment, and also first-class professors. A better teaching environment will help with their study.

In most of the world's top universities, huge amounts of money are spent on frontier technology research, including the input to finding excellent teachers. A relaxed academic environment can help with teachers' performance.

The main point is not whether a teaching building should be named after an enterprise or not, but whether the donation is properly spent. The donation should not be embezzled for other purposes, but should be used to attract excellent teachers and improve the university's infrastructure and equipment.