China has censored online all mentions and video clips of a rare protest at a university after the institution dropped the phrase, “freedom of thought,” from its charter.

The new charter for Fudan University in Shanghai – one of China’s most prestigious – now includes a pledge to “serving the governance of the Communist Party” and pushes “academic independence” below “patriotism,” leading to uproar among students and faculty.

The changes came to light Tuesday when the country’s education ministry said it had approved similar alterations for three universities.

Within hours, the Fudan charter amendments were trending online, with at least one hashtag generating at least a million views. Clips also circulated online showing students staging a flash mob protest on campus, singing the school’s anthem, which includes the phrase “freedom of thought”.

Fudan professors also took online to express their alarm. Qu Weiguo, a professor of foreign languages, posted that he was “very shocked” to learn about the changes, which he said were made without consulting faculty.

But shortly after, such mentions and posts online were all deleted by China’s active government censors, which routinely block news and information, and scrub the internet clean of any dissenting comments.