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Cornell University’s potential plan to establish a dual-degree program with China’s Peking University has some members of the campus community rightfully concerned.
The College Fix interviewed several Cornell associates who believe the educational institution should not participate in a program with a country with gross human rights violations and espionage against the United States.
Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson told the College Fix, “A joint degree program with Peking University creates issues of academic and personal freedom not raised by mere exchange programs or visiting students. This would be a degree to which Cornell is lending its name and credibility, and Cornell has an obligation to ensure that academic and personal freedoms are respected.”
The program is being advanced by Alex Susskind, the associate dean of Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Susskind presented the dual-degree program to the Faculty Senate on February 24.
Multiple professors raised concerns about academic freedom and the human rights violations occurring in China, according to the meeting’s minutes.
When asked about academic freedom for Chinese students, Susskind said, “I would prefer not to get involved in talking about these bigger picture political-cultural things.”
…After receiving heavy criticism from some professors, the Feb. 24 vote on the dual-degree program was postponed.
During a Feb 10. Faculty Senate meeting, Susskind was asked by professor Ken Birman how the University could maintain its independence and “freedom of bias and our standards in a situation where a political officer might order a person teaching on our behalf to express — like the Uyghurs question that was just raised, to express an opinion other than what we would want to hear expressed.”
Susskind replied that “China has a slightly different government system than we do.”
A February 24 vote on the dual-degree program was postponed after teachers raised concerns. A vote on the program is now set for March 31.
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Cornell University’s potential plan to establish a dual-degree program with China’s Peking University has some members of the campus community rightfully concerned.
The College Fix interviewed several Cornell associates who believe the educational institution should not participate in a program with a country with gross human rights violations and espionage against the United States.
Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson told the College Fix, “A joint degree program with Peking University creates issues of academic and personal freedom not raised by mere exchange programs or visiting students. This would be a degree to which Cornell is lending its name and credibility, and Cornell has an obligation to ensure that academic and personal freedoms are respected.”
The program is being advanced by Alex Susskind, the associate dean of Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Susskind presented the dual-degree program to the Faculty Senate on February 24.
Multiple professors raised concerns about academic freedom and the human rights violations occurring in China, according to the meeting’s minutes.
When asked about academic freedom for Chinese students, Susskind said, “I would prefer not to get involved in talking about these bigger picture political-cultural things.”
…After receiving heavy criticism from some professors, the Feb. 24 vote on the dual-degree program was postponed.
During a Feb 10. Faculty Senate meeting, Susskind was asked by professor Ken Birman how the University could maintain its independence and “freedom of bias and our standards in a situation where a political officer might order a person teaching on our behalf to express — like the Uyghurs question that was just raised, to express an opinion other than what we would want to hear expressed.”
Susskind replied that “China has a slightly different government system than we do.”
A February 24 vote on the dual-degree program was postponed after teachers raised concerns. A vote on the program is now set for March 31.