The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Wesleyan in talks to open campus in China
Some students have already started pushing back against the proposal
Wesleyan University is in early conversations about establishing a campus in China, bolstering existing efforts there through a partnership with one of China’s largest private companies.
The proposal, first reported by the student newspaper, The Wesleyan Argus, was brought first to the university by the Hengdian Group, and would operate as a “joint venture,” similar to New York University Shanghai and Duke Kunshan University.
The company, one of China’s largest corporations, owns 60 subsidiaries and 200 manufacturing sites, with operations in industries including electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, import and export services and film and entertainment, according to its website.
In a blog post on Wesleyan’s website, President Michael Roth said the university “has been invited to explore the possibility of opening a college in China,” and that discussions about a possible film academy, liberal arts college or “some form of hybrid” are “very preliminary.”
“Wesleyan has been running programs in China for many years, mostly in the form of lectures for prospective students or for our many alumni who live and work there,” Roth said in the post. “Should we explore doing something more substantial?”
In a statement from a university spokesperson, Wesleyan officials cited Roth’s blog post and “said they would prefer to hold off on discussing it further with the media until broader conversations within the Wesleyan community take place.” Discussions with faculty, staff and students will be held on campus on Oct. 30.
According to a presentation from university administrators, a version of which was inadvertently provided to students and obtained by Hearst Connecticut, Wesleyan was first contacted by the company’s representatives in February, and a delegation from China visited the Middletown campus in May. A “small team” from Wesleyan visited Hengdian, where Hengdian World Studios is located, in July.
That slide deck detailed a “blue sky proposal” for the cam
pus — more like brainstorming than planning — but when it began circulating among students, some interpreted it as a done deal.
Included in the slides were a potential organizational structure, in which a Chinese Communist Party secretary would be the joint venture’s president, and Wesleyanappointed officials would be responsible for academic and daytoday administrative operations. The joint venture
would require approval from China’s Ministry of Education.
Shanghai Theatre Academy, a performing arts university, was named in the presentation as the Chinese academic partner for the possible campus, another requirement of the joint venture model. Hengdian would fund the effort, the presentation said.
Administrators also listed questions that would need to be addressed before deciding whether to continue research for the possible project, including the expansion of academic opportunities, ability to
recruit faculty, the amount of internal support needed, academic freedom and opportunity costs. They also questioned whether Wesleyan’s reputation would be enhanced or risked by the joint venture.
Some students have already started pushing back against the proposal, addressing both the possibility of partnering with the large Chinese corporation and what they perceive as a lack of transparency from the administration.
Joy Ming King, a student from Hong Kong, organized a protest last week on the Wesleyan campus, in support of protesters in Hong Kong and in opposition to the Hengdian campus. About 70 students participated, the Argus reported.
The consideration of a campus in China is “a fundamental issue about Wesleyan’s values,” said King, who was involved in protests in Hong Kong this summer. “Will it allow itself to be complicit in working with one of the world’s most oppressive authoritarian regimes?” he said.
As one of China’s largest corporations, Hengdian Group is inextricably connected to the Chinese government that protesters are challenging, King said. He also pointed to the treatment of Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, where more than a million people are believed to be forcibly detained in reeducation camps, which the government says are to fight terrorism and extremism.
“How does that factor into your costbenefit analysis?” King asked. He also questioned connecting a nonprofit educational organization to a forprofit corporation. “Having education be something people can profit on, especially a large conglomerate, that’s something that worries me.”
The Wesleyan Student Assembly has also raised questions about the possible campus, and passed a resolution this week seeking greater transparency from the administration. They asked for two WSA senators to observe deliberations “held within the administration concerning the project, including cabinet, faculty, or otherwise,” and asked Wesleyan to release all documents on the development of the campus.
Two of the students who sponsored the resolution, Ben Garfield and Huzaifa Khan, said Thursday that they’ve since spoken to university officials about their requests.
Those conversations clarified that the campus is not a done deal, and that the possibilities outlined in the proposal are still hypothetical, Khan and Garfield said. “It’s going to move a lot slower than we expected it to,” Garfield said.
The “turmoil and tension” that boiled up after early word about the campus spread stemmed from “general distrust,” Khan said. Administrators have agreed to increased student involvement if the plan moves forward, they said.
Campus conversations about the campus and about the Hong Kong protests have also raised concerns among Wesleyan students from mainland China, the students said.
An earlier version of the WSA resolution, which was revised before it was passed, explicitly addressed “concerns about the behavior of the Chinese Communist Party,” Garfield said. They received feedback that Chinese students on campus felt they were conflating issues with the government with Chinese students, he said. While the conversation about the Hengdian campus is “inextricable from the political concerns and political dynamics,” they’ve shifted their focus to demanding transparency, Khan said, which will inform activists on campus.
At the rally, King called for solidarity with students from mainland China and acknowledged that conversations about the campus and the Hong Kong protests have made some feel uncomfortable. Discussions since then have been “a way of beginning that dialogue,” he said.
Political concerns are among the issues administration will likely consider in their deliberations about whether or not to move forward in the process. “The only decision that is imminent is whether we should do more research on this possibility,” Roth said in his post.
Liz.Teitz@hearstmediact.com