Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

University Student Group Received Funding From Chinese Government

The Georgetown University graduate student group, GU Chinese Students and Scholars Association, has received substantial funding from the Chinese government in years past, though the group has not broken any university funding rules, a recent report from Foreign Policy alleges.

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Founded in the early 2000s, Georgetown’s chapter of the national organization boasts a membership of about 230 students, most of whom are Chinese nationals and graduate students, according to the organization’s HoyaLink description.

The documentation of the funding points to Chinese government involvement with student groups on American college campuses, a link that is often suspected though difficult to prove, Foreign Policy reports. While not illegal, these relationships have been under scrutiny from U.S. security organizations, who have attempted for years to ascertain what, if any, threat the Chinese government and students pose to the United States.

The outlet wrote that it had obtained documents and emails from “a source concerned about Chinese Communist Party influence on university campuses” that showed the group had received about $1,600 in funding from the Chinese government, amounting to roughly half its annual budget in 2011.

Rachel Pugh, Georgetown’s senior director for strategic communications, said the university ensures all student groups adhere to university and government policies.

“As a global university, our international student body hails from more than 125 nations and contributes valuable experiences and perspectives that enhance the diversity and scholarship of our community,” Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We ensure that all student organizations comply with applicable financial rules and regulations.”

Founded in the early 2000s, Georgetown’s chapter of the national organization boasts a membership of about 230 students, most of whom are Chinese nationals and graduate students, according to the organization’s HoyaLink description. In addition to providing an on-campus space for Chinese graduate students adjusting to life at Georgetown, the CSSA helps connect the Chinese community on campus with other on-campus student groups to promote Chinese culture, according to group’s page.

A graduate student group, CSSA operates independently from undergraduate student organizations and receives much of its funding from the university and the Graduate Student Government through the Office of Graduate Enrichment Organizations. The Foreign Policy report states that the documentation of the funds comes from a September 2011 budget request received by Georgetown’s Graduate Student Government, which disclosed that the group received $800 each semester that school year from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. The group requested an additional $750 each semester from the university on top of the money it received from the embassy, the request said.

While CSSA could not be reached for comment, members of the group said in their 2011 budget request that the Chinese funding was used to host events, such as the annual Chinese New Year party in 2011.

Georgetown has no rule against student groups receiving money from foreign governments, according to Kylie Navarro (COL ’20), chair of the Student Activities Commission, the funding and advisory board that allocates resources to university-recognized undergraduate groups.

“There is no university policy that prevents student groups from receiving money from any outside source, including foreign governments,” Navarro wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Outside funding sources are not considered when SAC makes a decision to allocate funding. Groups are not even required to report outside funding to SAC.”

Navarro said it is unlikely that SAC will be looking further into whether funding has come from foreign governments at the undergraduate level.

The CSSA also serves as a support network for Chinese students at nearly 150 other universities across the United States, including the University of Maryland, the University of California, San Diego and the University of Connecticut. The groups began to pop up more regularly in the 1980s, when Chinese students began to study abroad in the United States more regularly, The Washington Post reported in May 2017.

The groups often work with oversight from the Chinese government, advocating for pro-Chinese government agendas on campuses, according to The Washington Post.

The information newly reported by Foreign Policy follows a growing trend of tension between Chinese student groups and universities across the country. Students in the CSSA at other institutions have clashed with administrators at their universities over different decisions affecting Chinese culture.

The club protested a presentation on human rights violations in China at Columbia University a decade ago. At the University of Maryland, the CSSA responded to an address given by a Chinese student praising free speech in May 2017. The group responded by posting a video titled “Proud of China UMD,” composed of video segments responding to the student’s address.

“We are deeply concerned about some of the stereotypical comments in her speech, and we, Chinese students at UMD, decided to reply with the following videos,” the opening slide of the video read.

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  • A

    An Actual Chinese StudentFeb 17, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    Clearly FP (the magazine on which this article is based) and The Hoya are really scared of us Chinese students! I mean, hosting Chinese New Year celebrations, the “occasional academic forum,” and social events?!?!

    Everyone knows dumplings are just the first step to armed insurrection.

    Reply
  • S

    Stop The FearmongeringFeb 17, 2018 at 10:21 am

    So… Student group gets outside funding, which is acknowledged to be a perfectly acceptable and widespread practice, and breaks no rules? But there has to be a story villifying Chinese so let’s bring in a whole bunch of unrelated anecdotes from other schools. Literally what was the point of this- Chinese nationals get a thousand bucks from a cultural ministry to celebrate Chinese New Year and it’s a scandal…. how?

    Reply
  • Y

    YWFeb 17, 2018 at 1:47 am

    The CPC is not a friend to this country, to freedom or democracy. Their state news mocks our beliefs in these things.

    We would not have allowed the USSR to fund student groups or activities on our campuses. We should not allow the CCP to do so. This is a country that imprisons people for disparaging the government. Imagine being imprisoned for saying you don’t like Donald Trump or tweeting it. Or for saying he is an idiot.

    You can’t imagine that. You don’t want to.

    Reply
    • A

      An Actual Chinese StudentFeb 17, 2018 at 6:56 pm

      Your xenophobic racism is showing – what is there to be gained by stoking fears against Chinese students who, like you, just want to be here peacefully, learn, and celebrate the New Year?

      This is like saying that the US supporting its nationals abroad through embassy and cultural services is also wrong.

      Reply
      • A

        an PatriotSep 30, 2018 at 12:17 am

        Chinese calling anybody a Xenophonic Racist is a dead giveaway.
        The PRC has bern funding leftist student groups in the US since the 1960s Third World Liberation Front. Just ask Floyd Huen.

        6月4日天安门广场大屠杀

        Reply
  • C

    Col 18Feb 16, 2018 at 12:32 pm

    the chinese government supporting chinese student groups??? Shocker!

    Why is this news? This is fearmongering and xenophobic

    Reply