Top News

On March 31, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) released a mini-film to mark its upcoming birthday on April 6, the South China Morning Post reported.

The film, titled “No 800 of Dongchuan Road,” takes its name from the address of the university’s Minhang campus, where most students live and study.

It quickly sparked controversy for depicting a male student playing e-sports in his dormitory and a female student performing as a lead dancer.

The caption of the film reads, “As time went by, the esports legend became a programmer while the central role on the stage became a mother. “Our mini-film drew significant attention due to our careless review and errors in our work. We express our most sincere apology,” the university said in its statement of apology.

It had also removed the video and “communicated with and apologized” to the students involved. The full video is no longer available online, and only a short clip containing the controversial segment circulates on Chinese social media.

The female student who played the lead dancer said she was “stunned” by the caption. “As an actor, I am furious. A male student plays e-games and becomes a programmer at a big company. It shows his career development,” she told the Yueniu Video.

“But for us girls, no matter how excellent we are, our identity can only be a mother. They are wrong to use my image in this video because they gave me a caption I do not like at all,” she added.

The incident triggered heated debate online. “At SJTU, such top school, how did they review this? Did all those involved in this project, from the person who writes the caption, to the ones who reviewed it and dub it, think it is fine? That is the biggest problem,” one user wrote.

Others defended the video, saying, “Many female graduates do become mothers. It is one of their roles, though not the only one. I do not see this as a serious problem.”

Shanghai Jiao Tong University is among China’s top five universities and is ranked 47th in this year’s QS World University Rankings.