The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Confucius Institute will close as part of the university's plan to cut $38.2 million from its budget.
UNL said the institute will begin ramping down its operations immediately and be shuttered by the end of the year as part of initial budget reductions, saving about $150,000 in salary and operational costs.
The Phase 1 cuts, which will affect non-academic units, are expected to total $16.4 million.
Chancellor Ronnie Green announced his proposed Phase 2 cuts earlier this week, which will seek to trim an additional $22.6 million in academic programming and staff.
The Confucius Institute at UNL, founded in 2007 in partnership with China's Xi-An Jiaotong University, was the 20th in the U.S., which would grow to about 500.
Funded through the Chinese government, the institute promotes the teaching of Chinese language and culture to university and high school students, and has helped create connections between the Cornhusker State and China.
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Green said the financial hit taken by UNL from the coronavirus pandemic meant the university had to make "tough choices" on how it responded, but added the decision to close the Confucius Institute does not mean UNL is retreating from its global engagement.
"We remain deeply committed to the support of our Chinese students, direct exchanges with Chinese universities and our partnerships in China and that region of the world," Green said.
Confucius Institutes have come under intense scrutiny in recent years from politicians who paint them as arms of the Chinese Communist Party as well as academics concerned about their influence on campus.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse last month said the student activity and language programs offered by Confucius Institutes were a front for "more nefarious core objectives: spreading communist propaganda and spying on Chinese students studying the free world."
The Trump administration's hard line on China, both for its trade practices and visa policies, has caused the relationship between the two countries to diminish lately — an effect felt at UNL.
At its peak in 2016-17, there were nearly 1,300 Chinese students enrolled at UNL. Last year, about one-fifth of those students withdrew from the university, accounting for half of UNL's total enrollment decline.
Universities also began closing their Confucius Institutes after a 2018 federal spending bill that barred colleges that host the programs from qualifying for funding provided by the Department of Defense for language programs.
Academic organizations, including the American Association of University Professors, have previously called into question the presence of Confucius Institutes on campus, saying they advance a Chinese state agenda in how they recruit and control academic staff and override the academic freedom of universities in selecting curriculum and restricting debate.
Xi Zhang, a junior bioinformatics major at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said Confucius Institute campus leaders must hold allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, which he said "puts Nebraska youth at risk."
Zhang, who is from China, also said it was unethical for UNL to maintain ties to and accept funding from a government committing genocide against its own people, referring to the approximately 2 million Uighur Muslims who have been moved into "reeducation centers" critics have said are akin to concentration camps by the Communist Party.
He also said the Chinese Communist Party's recent crackdown on protests in Hong Kong, which is an autonomous government within China, should be a reason for UNL to cut its ties with the Confucius Institute program.
On Friday, Zhang said he was assured by NU leaders last month UNL's Confucius Institute would be "closing soon" and said he welcomed the news.
Despite the closing of the Chinese institute, UNL pledged to continue its partnerships with Xi-an Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University City College, and Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University — three universities that send hundreds of students to Lincoln in exchange programs.
Josh Davis, UNL's associate vice chancellor for global affairs, said the university would "find new ways to build on our relationships with those and other Chinese universities to increase the exchange of both ideas and people."
Photos: Historic UNL buildings
Photos: Historic UNL buildings
University of Nebraska-Lincoln buildings; Architectural Hall
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Architectural Hall, seen here in July 1987 following a $4.38 million renovation, is the university's oldest building. It originally housed UNL's library and art gallery and served as headquarters for the Nebraska State Historical Society.
UNL CBA building
Louise Pound Hall previously housed the College of Business Administration. It opened in 1919 and was renovated in 2018.
UNL Temple Building
The Temple Building, at 12th and R streets, is home to the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. It was completed in 1908 and renovated in the 1970s.
UNL Morrill Hall
Morrill Hall is home to the State Museum of Natural History on the UNL City Campus.
Cather Hall, Pound Hall
Pound (left) and Cather dormitories were known as the Twin Towers when they opened in 1963. Closed in recent years, the dorms were imploded in 2017.
Teachers College
When the new Teachers’ College Building was constructed at the very eastern edge of the University of Nebraska it also contained the old Temple High School, whose name was then changed to Teachers’ High School. Today the building is extant and connected to the Administration Building to its south across the street west from the Student Union.
Brace Laboratory
The extant physics building on the University of Nebraska campus opened in 1906 and was dedicated to Professor DeWitt Brace though he died the year before it opened.
Brace Hall
The original cast-iron “Physical Laboratory” sign at Brace Hall was uncovered by construction crews and incorporated into the renovation design by architects Leo A Daly.
University of Nebraska astronomical observatory
The the old University of Nebraska astronomical observatory is shown about 1910 when it was located just west of today’s physics building on the UNL campus; it was allowed $500 for construction by the Board of Regents. A few years later, a new observatory was built south of Brace Laboratory, first proposed to cost $12,500 and later estimated to be double that, still far from a vast amount.
UNL Architecture Hall
Construction on Architecture Hall, originally built as a library for $110,000, started in 1892. It was renovated for $4.3 million in the mid-1980s.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln buildings; Architectural Hall
Construction underway in January 1986 renovating and linking UNL's former law building (left) and Architectural Hall.
Cather Hall, Pound Hall
UNL demolish the Cather and Pound residence halls in 2017.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln buildings; Architectural Hall
Banners tream down through the atrium gathering place which unites UNL's Architecture Hall and Architecture Hall West, the former law college building, in this November 1987 photo.
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On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS
Chris Dunker
Higher education/statehouse reporter
