A Chinese college that banned Christmas festivities has stirred up a new controversy with its assertion that the New Year’s Eve stampede in Shanghai that left at least 36 people dead has vindicated its restrictions on merrymaking.
一所禁止了圣诞庆祝活动的高校称，新年前夜在上海发生的导致至少36人死亡的踩踏事件证明，该校对欢庆活动的限制是合理的。这番言论引发了新的争议。
On Friday, the Modern College of Northwest University in Xi’an published a statement on its website titled, “The unfortunate Shanghai holiday stampede tragedy confirms that our school’s position on holiday management is indisputably correct.”
周五，位于西安的西北大学现代学院在网站上发布了一则声明，标题是“上海节日踩踏惨剧不幸证明我院对节日管理无比正确”。

The statement, by the college’s cultural work office, continued: “If the Shanghai incident had occurred in Xi’an, if the Xi’an incident had occurred on Christmas Eve and if students had been killed in the stampede incident, then the value of the Modern College’s Christmas Eve management would be even more clear.”
西北大学现代学院文化工作办公室发布的这则声明说：“如果上海事件发生在西安，如果西安事件发生在平安夜，如果西安平安夜发生踩踏事件后有大学生遇难，现代学院管理平安夜的本次舆论事件价值就更加突现出来了！”
On Sina Weibo, a popular microblog service in China, many users criticized the school for using the events in Shanghai to justify its prohibition on celebrating Christmas.
在中国人气颇高的微博平台新浪微博上，许多用户指责了该校利用上海的事件为圣诞节禁令辩护的做法。
“Lighting a fire to cook a meal can also lead to a fire disaster! Go back and starve your mother then!” a user named Bai Bu Za De wrote. “Drinking water can lead to fatal choking! Go frighten the headmaster!”
“吃饭点火还能引起火灾呢！回去把你妈饿死吧！”一名用户写道。“喝水还能呛死呢！怂包校长！”
Another user, Messy Winds Drunken Hearts, wrote: “Really an idiotic school. According to what they say, all colleges should prohibit the celebration of Christmas?”
另一名用户写道：“真是白痴学院！这样说来全国高校禁止过圣诞才正确？”
Still, some commenters supported the school’s effort to play down Christmas festivities.
不过，仍然有一些评论对该校限制圣诞庆祝活动的做法表示了支持。
“Rationally approach the foreign holidays, don’t be so fanatical and remember which country you belong to,” Centenarian-O-Yang wrote.
“理性对待洋节，不要过于狂热，记住自己是哪国人，”一名用户写道。
The statement was posted just over a week after the college barred its students from taking part in Christmas celebrations and forced them to watch patriotic films, with faculty members guarding doors at the screening.
在发布这份声明的一周前，该学院禁止学生参加圣诞庆祝活动，并强迫他们观看爱国主义影片，教职工把守在放映室的门口。
By Monday afternoon, the statement had been removed from the college’s website, though images of it were still available online.
到了周一下午，这份声明已从该院网站上删除，但网上依然能找到相关图片。
In an interview on Monday, a university spokesman, Cao Fenghe, said that the statement was written with concern for the students’ safety.
周一接受采访时，西北大学发言人曹凤和表示，写这份声明是出于对学生安全的担心。
He said it was taken down Monday afternoon because that time is an exam period at the college, and the heavy traffic on the school’s website was preventing many students from finding their exam locations online.
他表示，周一下午删除相关声明是因为那个时间是学院的考试周，学校网站流量过大导致许多学生没法在网上查询考试地点。
“One of the reasons we wrote the statement is that we feel have to manage the holidays,” Mr. Cao said. “Because we’re a school, we have to manage our students. We have to help students rationally pass the holidays.”
“我们写这份声明的原因之一，是觉得有必要对节日进行管理，”曹凤和说。“因为我们是学校，我们必须管好学生。我们必须帮助学生理性地过节。”
He said the curbs on Christmas celebrations had more to do with student welfare than with antiforeign sentiment. “A lot of our buildings are European style, and we respect the integration of Western culture,” he said. “Many foreigners come to our universities.”
他表示，禁止庆祝圣诞节更多的是和学生利益有关，而非排外情绪。“我们的很多楼都是欧式的，我们尊重与西方文化的融合，”他说。“也有很多外国人来我们学校。”
But he added that the university had a responsibility to watch out for its students. “Even during our annual winter vacation, we often publish notices on our website reminding students that during holidays they should keep in touch with their parents, and if they go out they should let their parents know where they are,” he said.
但他接着表示，学校有义务照看学生。“即便是每年寒假，我们也经常在网站上发布通知，提醒学生放假期间应该和父母保持联系，如果外出应该让父母知道自己在哪儿，”他说。