The brawl that marred the Georgetown men’s basketball team’s friendly game with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Bayi Rockets drew headlines across the world. But the trip was only the latest and most visible aspect of Georgetown’s ongoing effort to increase its presence in China, an effort that has seen the school establish strong ties with Chinese institutions which threaten to compromise the University’s Catholic values and liberal traditions.
While most of the University’s relationships in China are with universities to foster study abroad opportunities and faculty exchanges, Georgetown has spent considerable resources on partnerships with two important organs of the undemocratic, oppressive central government: the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which often restricts the activity of Christian groups in China, and the Central Party School, which trains senior Chinese Communist Party officials.
The school’s relationship with the Central Party School has affected the academic freedom of at least one Georgetown professor. School of Foreign Service professor James Millward was blocked from obtaining a Chinese visa until 2007 because the Chinese believed he supported Xinjiang’s independence from China. The University blatantly prioritized its amicable relationship with the school over the academic freedom of one of its professors, regardless of protestations to the contrary.
More worrisome than the fact that the University is catering to institutions whose values are contrary to our own is that the decision to engage with these institutions was made nearly unilaterally by senior Georgetown administrators. The sidelining of Victor Cha, the director of Asian Studies center and a former National Security Council member, in the decision-making process is a particularly egregious example of this insular attitude.
Since department budgets are shrinking seemingly regardless of student interest, the University must also reconsider what value these relationships offer in this time of financial difficulty. Last summer, the Asian Studies budget was cut 47 percent because of a reduction in government funding, forcing the center to make massive cuts to its programs. Students do not benefit from the relationships with the SARA and Central Party School, while Asian Studies is one of the most popular certificate programs in the SFS and will be launching a new Master’s program next year.
Because Georgetown bases much of its reputation and ideals on being an international university, engagement in China is a necessity. That fact must not drive the University away from its own identity and academic priorities, which are even more important parts of Georgetown’s unique character.
