Faculty Senate Condemns Hubs Newly-passed Resolution 184 promotes academic freedom

By SOFIA RUBINSON Sun Managing Editor

A resolution condemning the political, social and cultural repression in the People’s Republic of China amid the University’s expanding Global Hubs programs in the country was passed by the Faculty Senate on March 2.

Resolution 184: Academic Freedom in Cornell Programs in China and Other Parts of the Global Hubs System passed with 58.56 percent of the vote on Thursday, with 22.52 percent voting against the resolution and 18.92 percent abstaining from voting.

The Resolution points specifically to the Global Hubs system. China’s Global Hub consists of two partners: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Cornell China Center. However, Cornell has 26 active partnerships in China according to Director of Media Relations Rebecca Valli, including the Cornell-Peking MMH/MBA program, a partnership between the Nolan School of Hotel Administration and the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University in Beijing.

In April 2021, the Faculty Senate voted against the partnership with Peking University, though the University continued with the partnership nonetheless. The Faculty Senate has also passed other resolutions that require the University to consult with the Faculty Senate on international partnerships, but these have also been ignored by the central administration according to Prof. Richard Bensel, government.

“The Faculty Senate has consistently expressed doubts concerning Cornell’s involvement with China, and in some cases, outright rejected that involvement,” Bensel said. “The central administration’s response has been a deafening silence.”

The State Department determined in January 2021 that the Chinese government is committing genocide and crimes against humanity through its wide-scale repression of Uighurs and other predominately Muslim ethnic minorities in its northwest region of Xinjiang. The United States accused China of using internment camps and forced sterilization.