The Communication University of China (CUC ) on Sunday expressed their condolences to the family of a graduate student, who committed suicide, vowing to investigate if the student's instructor had barred her from submitting her graduating thesis as the student's family claimed. 

Huang Jingyi, 26, who majored in animation, died in her home on May 1 after visiting a doctor the previous day for suspected psychosis. Huang's symptoms were due to her instructor's negative attitude towards her  thesis, a net user claimed to be Huang's younger sister posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. 

The Weibo post also challenged the university's regulation that students are not allowed to graduate even if their theses passed an anonymous review and were recognized by other professors. 

The CUC School of Animation and Digital Art posted a notice on its website, saying the school had formed a team to cooperate with the university to conduct an investigation into the claims from Huang's family. 

 "We will carefully collect information to investigate the situation the family reported, and reply to public concerns based on facts," read the post. 

In an earlier Weibo post, Huang's family said the instructor surnamed Xue, disagreed with Huang on her thesis topic and refused to sign her proposal. Huang managed to get another professor's signature and completed her thesis.

Xue gave suggestions on the revision of Huang's draft thesis, but refused to check her revised version, or sign the thesis, which is a must  before the article can be submitted for review, according to the post. 

Another two graduate students supervised by Xue also had their graduations postponed, and Xue did not contact the family or express condolences over Huang's death, Huang's sister posted on Weibo. 

The tragedy sparked debates online with some netizens complaining about their unpleasant experiences with instructors. Some professors were reported to have exploited students to work for projects not related to the students' studies while others appeared to have an overbearing attitude. 

"You may encounter bad people in your life, but they aren't worth the price of your own life. Rest in peace and hope you can meet better people in the other world," a Weibo user posted in memory of Huang.  

 Some netizens also said the tragedy could have been avoided if Huang applied to change her thesis instructor at the very beginning when she and Xue had disagreement over the thesis topic. "Having another professor sign the proposal may have infuriated Xue who felt his authority was challenged, and in effect, Xue was trying to make Huang's life hard while at the school," said another Weibo user.  

Global Times