Yu Dynasty Yingdala (4338-4636)

[Wu Han]

The Kaizhou Inquirer
The Kaizhou Inquirer is northern Indrala's leading periodical, reporting on politics, culture and economics

26 June 4374
Kyung-hee Imperial University opens one year ahead of schedule
The nation's first Imperial university dedicated to the Emperor's mother

Rendering of the Kyung-hee Imperial University campus

YINCHENG, Jiaozhi: One year ahead of schedule, Kyung-hee Imperial University opened its doors to students and faculty, the first new public university built under Emperor Yijun and the first to be directly sponsored by the Imperial Household.

The university is named after Princess Ryeo Kyunghee, the Emperor's mother, and has been mandated to prioritize the acceptance of women from low-income families. The Imperial Household contributed $1b (~30% of total cost), while the Ministry of Education footed most of the bill, contributing $2.25b (66%).

Private enterprises and individuals also offered substantial endowments to the university, including Indralan National Petroleum, which gave the largest private donation at $100m, followed by TQ Group at $66m and Indrala Fengyu at $14m. The noble clans Cheng and Lü offered future endowments, while the FangCaiRyeo Group has also been rumoured to potentially donate to the project.

The Imperial Edict gained near unanimous support in the Grand Assembly, with only the Communists voting against the motion. Predicting this, the Lotus Party's Sung Hyo-rin said during debate that it is "unfortunate that... some will be voting against the free education of low-income women in this country to score a cheap political point."

For their part, the Communists declared that "[they] do not agree such a Feudal Reactionary University to be built [sic]," while the similarly republican Civic Forum claimed that the Imperial Household had donated tax dollars, and that this donation would "never justify the Oppression of our citizens' rights and equality." Following an intervention from Xi Huanyu, the Chief Secretary of the Imperial Household Agency, in which he clarified the private origin of the funds as well as the non-existent political rights of Imperial Household, the Civic Forum would eventually vote in support of the edict.

Crown Prince Yinju attended the opening ceremony in place of his father, along with his siblings Princess Jieyou and Prince Wanjun. Numerous YingPop idols gave a free concert in the main quad for the students, sponsored by YM Entertainment. 6000 students were admitted, while 400 academic staff were hired.

---

Originally posted by Wu Han on 9 April 2018.