The University of West Florida won’t be renewing their annual contract with the Confucius Institute for the incoming fall semester. The Confucius Institute, otherwise known as Hanban, is an organization funded by the Chinese government to teach Chinese language and culture in college and high school campuses worldwide. At UWF, the institute is known for its association with the Chinese language programs and Chinese New Year celebrations.
Confucius Institute Day at UWF in Fall 2016.
According to the Pensacola News Journal, the official reason for the separation according to UWF Vice President and Provost George Ellenburg is due to a lack of student interest in the exchange programs offered. Being offered at the beginning of the semester, these exchange programs take place between UWF and Sichuan International Studies University, a public institution in Chongqing, China. This past year, the university factored that lack of interest into the decision to cut ties with the institute.
This organization also came under fire recently from Sen. Marco Rubio, who sent a letter to UWF president Martha Saunders pleading to cut ties with the institute. According to the official press release, he stated in this letter that the institute as a whole is attempting to “infiltrate” American college students by suppressing free speech and barring certain topics in the classroom. Ellenburg maintains the official reason for severing the relationship is the lack of student interest is the official reason. Rubio also sent letters making his statements to several other Florida colleges, including Miami Dade College, the University of South Florida in Tampa, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, and Cypress Bay High School in Broward County.
However, this is not the only recent case of universities cutting off their Confucius Institute programs. Several other universities have severed their relationships with Hanban, including the University of Chicago, Pennsylvania State University, and McMaster University in Ontario. Whether there will be more institutes being shuttered in the future remains to be seen.