A university student has filed a lawsuit against Fudan University for not awarding her a bachelor's degree and graduation certificate after she was caught writing her boyfriend's name on an exam paper.

Miao Ying Thursday asked the Yangpu District People's Court to order Fudan to award the degree and certificate.

The court was told the university had accused Miao of taking an examination for her boyfriend Zhang Jie on June 9 this year at Jiao Tong University, where the couple were completing an additional major.

Miao was caught writing Zhang's name on the test paper by a teacher.

But Miao said it was an accident.

"I took the exam myself because I put my lecture-attending-permit on the desk during the whole examination," she said.

"Zhang did not need to take the examination because he had already been successfully admitted into the Nagasaki University in Japan."

Miao told the court she wrote her boyfriend's name on the paper because her mind was preoccupied with the couple's future because he was leaving for Japan.

Miao claimed she had not realized what she had done and has not seen the paper since it was confiscated.

Liu Yuanfeng, the lawyer for Miao, said Fudan made the decision on June 21, four days after Miao had finished her degree.

"The university did not have the right to punish her since she had graduated and was no longer a student," Liu told the court.

But a representative for Fudan told the court students could only be regarded as graduates once they had received their degrees.

The university's rules deem they can punish students if they are caught cheating or helping others cheat in any examination.

(Shanghai Daily September 17, 2004)