Almost all of the people across the nation were immersed in sadness over the past week after the tragic stampede on New Year's Eve that claimed the lives of 36 people and injured 49. An exception was the officials from the Modern College of Northwest University in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, who thought to use the tragedy to gain the upper hand in a war of words over their decision to forbid its students from leaving campus on Christmas Eve.

To protect its students from potential accidents while celebrating Christmas Eve and prevent students from becoming "overly infatuated" with Western holidays, the university prohibited its students from leaving campus. Instead, it arranged for them to watch traditional Chinese cultural films.

The decision was met with scorn from the public. Many criticized the decision, saying that young adults should have the freedom to decide whether to celebrate the holiday.

After the stampede occurred on December 31, the university published a statement on its website entitled "Shanghai's tragic holiday stampede proves our holiday management is utterly correct" to argue that its previous controversial decision turned out to be wise.

The statement prompted a storm of criticism, which was well-deserved. The university capitalized on a tragedy that killed three dozen people - all in an attempt to win an argument with critics. Its behavior was shameless. It set a bad moral example for the public and its students.

The statement did have a certain literary grace, but once readers peeled back the rhetoric, there wasn't much to support the university's opinion that Western holidays and celebrations cause stampedes. Its arguments were flimsy and its wording was offensive. "Because young people have been irrationally obsessed with the foreign holidays, death has been lurking above many cities for years. It found its chance to strike in Shanghai on the New Year's Eve," the statement said.

The logic here is that celebrations of Western holidays put lives in danger. Christmas is no different than New Year's Eve. Putting aside the fact that the two holidays aren't celebrated the same way, the university did not explain why Shanghai was the only victim of tragedy on New Year's Eve. Most likely, the tragedy resulted from a mix of factors: overcrowding at the plaza, an insufficient police presence and a crowd that didn't comply with instructions to maintain order.

More importantly, the university didn't provide any evidence to show a connection between Western holidays and fatal tragedies. In Western countries, stampedes do occur, but they rarely happen on holidays. One of the most infamous ones, such as The Who's 1979 concert in Cincinnati, Ohio in the US, during which 11 people were killed in the crowd's mad rush to enter the venue, had nothing to do with holidays.

The university's statement was also offensive due to its tone, which approached gloating. It appreciatively quoted an online post that supported its decision.

"If the stampede had occurred in Xi'an, if the stampede occurred on the Christmas Eve, and if university students had died, people would realize the value of the Modern College of Northwest University's decision." The university went on to thank the poster for his or her "objective evaluation." There's nothing classier than praising those who praise you, right?

As an institute designed to cultivate moral and ethical young people, it is improper for the university to join such a verbal battle and make so many improper statements. As a matter of fact, many students saw that the university had good intentions when it closed the campus on Christmas Eve to ensure their safety. However, the university did not have to employ a tragedy to justify its decision.