Over 1,000 HKU Alumni Call For End To Entry Ban

More than a thousand University of Hong Kong (HKU) graduates have signed a petition demanding the university revoke a ban on students who attended a controversial meeting of the students’ union from entering the campus.

The university’s governing body, the HKU Council, announced the ban last Wednesday, citing the “serious legal and reputational risks" to the institution of allowing students who attended the July 7 meeting onto campus.

During that meeting, the students’ union (HKUSU) council passed a motion expressing sadness over the death of a man who knifed a police officer on July 1 before he stabbed himself. It thanked the man for his "sacrifice" for Hong Kong.

The HKUSU council has since apologised, with several executive committee members resigning from their posts.

In the week following the passing of the motion, Chief Executive Carrie Lam called for action against the student leaders and police officers from the force’s national security department raided the HKUSU office.

The organisers of the graduates' petition said on Wednesday that 1,180 HKU alumni had signed.

In a statement, they said the HKU Council has no power to penalise students directly and its decision may have breached the university’s statutes.

It said they did not intend to offer any comment on the motion passed by the students’ union council or “involve any political discussion”, and their only concerns were regarding matters of procedure and fairness.

"We urge the University to faithfully execute its duties in safeguarding the cornerstone of the University of Hong Kong and its century-worth achievements, by immediately revoking penalties imposed on HKUSU Councillors," the statement read.

A day after the HKU Council announced the ban, law lecturer Eric Cheung told a radio programme that the students had been "stripped of their rights to be students", and he was resigning as a member of the council.