Soongsil University Faces Backlash Over Listing Nationality in Dormitory Discipline Notice

Soongsil University has come under fire for including nationality information in a disciplinary notice for students expelled from its dormitory, with critics saying the practice fuels xenophobic sentiment.

According to Newsis on Wednesday, the university's residence hall posted a disciplinary notice on January 8 announcing the forced eviction of two students for violating dormitory rules. The notice included the students' surnames, room numbers, and reasons for the disciplinary action.

Under university regulations, smoking inside the residence hall carries 18 penalty points, with forced eviction imposed after two or more violations. Both students were reportedly caught smoking indoors on at least two occasions.

The controversy centers on the notice explicitly identifying the students' nationality as "Chinese." Critics argue that nationality has no direct relevance to the violation itself, regardless of whether the disciplinary action was justified. Some expressed concern that disclosing nationality singles out students from a specific country as the source of problems, potentially spreading anti-Chinese sentiment and encouraging hate speech.

After the notice was shared on Soongsil University's board on Everytime, an anonymous university community platform, derogatory comments and hate speech targeting Chinese international students followed. Many responded that "the discipline is about rule violations, not nationality."

Most universities minimize personal information in dormitory disciplinary notices, typically displaying only partial names or redacting student ID numbers. This is because disclosing nationality can lead not only to privacy violations but also to conflict and discrimination against students of specific nationalities.

A Soongsil University official acknowledged that "including nationality in the notice could be seen as problematic," but said "there was no intention to shame or discriminate against students of a specific nationality." The official explained that "nationality has been routinely included in dormitory notices, and no complaints had been raised until now."

The university said it would review the practice of including nationality in dormitory disciplinary notices through discussions with students in light of the controversy.