NKNU students protest against dormitory curfew policy

Performing a world-known play “Cinderella” on campus, the students demonstrated against the curfew policy, which makes them Cinderellas as they have to return to the dormitory before 12 a.m. every day. In addition to the dorm curfew, the protestors also demanded that the university abolish the new daily roll call rule between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., scheduled to start from yesterday.

The curfew policy could raise the likelihood of traffic accidents, which occur to students who break traffic rules in order to return to the dorm by 12 a.m., the students say. Moreover, it is unfair to impose the curfew only on undergraduates and exclude graduate students as the partial rule has deprived undergraduates of their rights to hang out at night, explained Tang Chih-hsuan, a representative of the NKNU student association.

In response, the university has decided — after taking safety issues and parents' perspective into consideration — to withdraw the new roll call policy but not the dorm curfew, which has been in place for dozens of years. For those who return to the dorm after 12 a.m., they just need to leave their personal information at the entrance before being allowed to enter the building. Students can make a proposal at the university student association if they want to modify the curfew policy, said Wu Lien-shang, deputy president of the NKNU.

However, the students said they are not qualified to apply for university accommodation if they break the curfew more than three times. This can be problematic for them because it is more expensive to rent a private room outside the university. It costs at least NT$5,500 per month to rent an air-conditioned private room while university dormitory equipped with air-conditioners only costs NT$5,000 for the whole semester.

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