Valparaiso U. abandons Confucius Institute amid criticism

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VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) – The University of Valparaiso, citing criticism and the potential loss of federal money, has said it will shut down a program to promote Chinese music.

The Confucius Institute will continue its performances before closing on March 1, university president Jose Padilla said on Monday.

“We are proud of what the CIVU program has accomplished over the past 14 years,” said Padilla. “We have hosted CIVU as part of a cultural, international and non-political exchange that many universities and governments, including the state of Indiana, pursue to expose their students and others to a world and an economy. always globalized. ”

The program was supported by the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing and Zhejiang University of Technology.

Padilla said federal law prohibits the Pentagon from funding research at universities with a Confucius Institute. Another bill would restrict funding to the US Department of Education, he added, a move that “would be devastating.”

Padilla said more than 80 universities were closing Confucius Institutes.

Valparaiso plans to create a program to continue the exchange of Chinese music and language without Chinese money or staff.

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