Athenai Institute
ATHENAI NEWSROOM
Inside Higher Ed | Meghan Brink
“[S]upporters of the bill, such as Athenai Institute, a [student-founded] organization that works to combat involvement from the Chinese government in higher education, say that it would create more transparency with reporting of foreign investments in endowments, which are difficult to track.”
The New York Sun | Mary Julia Koch
“Mr. Metz reasoned that universities are not aware of how heavily index or mutual funds have allocated their endowments toward China, an issue that organizations like Athenai aim to address. ‘There are risks out there that Wall Street hasn’t adequately accounted for,’ he said. ‘If universities can account for those risks, not only will they be on the right side of history, not only will they play a role in sending a message to the Chinese government, but they can also save money.’”
Inside Higher Ed | Meghan Brink
“The Athenai Institute, a… group that works to combat Chinese government involvement in higher education, is in support of the bill. ‘We think this builds an important step towards ensuring that U.S. academic institutions aren’t knowingly or inadvertently investing entities complicit in the Chinese government’s human rights abuses,’ said John Metz, president of the organization. Metz said congressional action would ensure that such investments from university endowments, which are difficult to track, would be disclosed.”
Politico | Phelim Kine
“That groundswell of student action has coalesced in the nonprofit Athenai Institute, dedicated to prodding U.S. universities into divesting their endowments of any Chinese Communist Party-linked investments. Athenai’s strategy is to use university divestment of problematic Chinese investments as a roadmap for the private sector to purge its balance sheets of similar holdings.”
Washington Examiner | John Metz and Rory O’Connor
“Students at the Catholic University of America, inspired in part by Krach’s work, successfully lobbied their university to become the first in the world to commit to divest from companies complicit in the genocide of Uyghurs and other human rights abuses. Since then, student leaders around the country, from George Washington University to UCLA and more than two dozen other institutions, have joined the fight for divestment.”
Voice of America | Wenhao Ma
“John Metz, Athenai Institute's executive director, said that other than moral reasons, universities should pull business ties from China for their own business interests, as investments in a country that is involved in human rights abuses could be subject to future sanctions. Students from Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Virginia and the University of California, Los Angeles, are mobilizing toward divestment from China.”
Fox News | Timothy H.J. Nerozzi
“Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has signed onto a letter demanding universities cut financial ties with China… [t]he letter, drafted by the Athenai Institute, requests university officials push their schools to divest entirely from their Chinese financial ties in protest of Chinese human rights abuses and international security threats. Haley's signature is among the most prominent attached to the Athenai Letter.”
03/18/2022
China-Uyghur Conflict Comes to Cornell
Inside Higher Ed | Josh Moody
“Though Chinese students on U.S. campuses may be thousands of miles from home, they are always within their government’s reach, said John Metz, executive director of the Athenai Institute, a political nonprofit focused on diminishing China’s influence on U.S. colleges. The group’s efforts include advocating for the closure of Confucius Institutes—cultural programs at colleges, funded by Chinese government grants—urging universities to disclose ties to China and protecting students and faculty from efforts to silence criticism of China’s government.”
Campus Reform | Alexa Schwerha
“Students from across the political aisle joined forces Tuesday to host a panel calling on George Washington University to divest from companies complicit in the Uyghur genocide. Hosted by the College Republicans and the College Democrats, in partnership with the Athenai Institute, the panel featured Campaign for Uyghurs founder Rushan Abbas and concentration camp survivor Zumrat Dawut”.
The GW Hatchet | Max Beveridge
“Two Uyghur human rights activists who experienced persecution by the Chinese government discussed financial divestment from the companies that reportedly profit on Uyghur forced labor at a discussion Tuesday…. The pair spoke about personal tragedies they’ve experienced actions students can take to end financial support of the genocide individually and at GW. The event was moderated by Elise Anderson, the senior program officer for the Uyghur Human Rights Project – an NGO promoting Uyghur human rights – and was hosted by the Athenai Institute, a student-run non-profit, and sponsored by College Democrats, College Republicans and the GW Uyghur Divestment Committee.”
The GW Hatchet | Daniel Patrick Galgano and Erika Filter
“Protesters also included members of the Athenai Institute – a student-run nonprofit organization that opposes influence from the Chinese government on college campuses and helped organize the petition calling on GW to divest.”
02/14/2022
Student Groups Demand Officials Investigate Endowment for Potential Ties to Uyghur Genocide
The GW Hatchet | Daniel Patrick Galgano and Lauren Sforza
“The petition – launched last Sunday by GW College Democrats, GW College Republicans, the GW Committee on Divestment from the Uyghur Genocide, the Uyghur Human Rights Initiative at GW Law and the Athenai Institute – demanded that GW reevaluate its endowment and research funding tied to companies that benefit from the forced labor of the Uyghur people. The groups launched the effort in the wake of officials removing posters from campus denouncing the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, which officials have since apologized for doing.”
The GW Hatchet | Abby Kennedy and Zach Blackburn
“The posters have drawn headlines from The Washington Post, Fox News, Axios and the Chronicle of Higher Education this week. Members of China Central Television – a broadcasting company owned by the CCP – were seen walking near Madison and Duques halls Tuesday, according to a tweet from the Athenai Institute, a student-run nonprofit urging universities to divest from the CCP.”
Washington Post | Josh Rogin
“The Athenai Institute, a Catholic University of America-founded student organization fighting against the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on U.S. campuses, is pushing for GWU to follow Catholic’s example and to scour its endowments and investments for any entities connected to the Uyghur atrocities in China — and then divest from them. The unstated reason that more colleges don’t confront this issue head-on is because they fear retaliation that will hurt their bottom line.”
The Hoya | Kirit Minhas
“Georgetown has a moral responsibility to divest and ensure it’s endowment is not tied to genocide, according to John Metz, executive director of the Athenai Institute, a bi-partisan non-profit that seeks to limit Beijing’s influence on U.S. college campuses. The institute helped prepare the Georgetown letter. “Divestment is a practical and moral necessity,” Metz wrote in an email to The Hoya. “By divesting, Georgetown has an opportunity to ensure its financial independence from a genocidal regime.”
Daily Bruin | Sarah Choudhary
“Rory O’Connor, a second-year student at Catholic University, helped draft the resolution alongside members of the student government. O’Connor said if universities wish to continue receiving money from the public, they’re obligated to end their involvement in crimes against humanity. In addition, Yale University’s Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility will investigate Chinese companies for ties to human rights violations, as reported by the Yale Daily News on Wednesday. Earlier this month, an anonymous Yale student urged the administration to divest from Chinese companies given the draconian practices of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Newsweek | Rory O’Connor and Jianli Yang
“We believe the answer now lies in divestment: a bottom-up, grassroots movement of the politically conscious. Beginning with students, young people, and everyday citizens, we are calling for the divestment of university endowments from companies that are complicit in the Uyghur genocide. And with the help of public officials, we seek direct divestment of public pension funds from any companies complicit in the oppression of Uyghurs or the Chinese Communist Party's human rights abuses.”
01/04/2022
Yale’s ‘Anonymous’
National Review | Jimmy Quinn
“First, a counter-CCP campus divestment movement is taking shape, and this piece serves as a reminder of its significance. In October, Catholic University of America’s student government voted to support the school’s divestment from firms implicated in the Uyghur genocide, leading school officials to pledge to take steps toward that goal. Rory O’Connor of the Athenai Institute, the group coordinating a nationwide boycott campaign, told me at the time that his organization is targeting a number of other schools across the country in the coming months.”
Barron’s | Craig Mellow
“‘There are a lot of soft pressure campaigns targeting Chinese investments, but the data don’t show investors reacting yet,’ he says… [t]hat’s what market wisdom would have said in 1977, when Hampshire College became the first school to shed South African investments, says Athenai’s Metz. More than 150 U.S. campuses soon followed suit. Athenai got its first commitment to “audit” Chinese exposure this year from The Catholic University of America.”
Washington Post | Josh Rogin
“The Catholic University’s example sets a precedent that can be used to push for divestment in schools across the country and the world, said John Metz, Athenai’s executive director. Importantly, the resolution specifically calls out Wall Street index funds, which routinely funnel money from institutional investors — such as university endowments — into Chinese companies, including many that are connected to human rights abuses.”
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education | Arrman Kyaw
“The College of William & Mary has announced the closure of its Confucius Institute in June. The Athenai Institute, a student-led organization, has been pushing higher ed institutions to remove Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence from U.S. campuses. The organization aims to force the closure of the remaining 50 Confucius Institutes in the nation by 2021’s end… [s]ince the Athenai Institute released its Washington Appeal in May 2020, 33 schools have closed their Confucius Institutes, with almost a dozen more announcing plans to close.”
The Batt | Jack Corrales
“On the evening of March 6 the Athenai Institute’s Texas chapter, Texas A&M New Liberals, Texas A&M College Republicans and Aggie Democrats, virtually gathered to discuss ways to combat authoritarianism within the Chinese Communist Party’s, or CCP. Daniel Cheng, the president of the Athenai Institute’s Texas chapter, started the first of the four presentations by saying that China has violated human rights in their mass incarceration of Uyghurs.”
Newsweek | Brendan Cole
“Other critics include the non-profit Athenai Institute, which says the institute has pressured host universities to censor politically sensitive speeches.”
08/25/2020
NAS Applauds the Newly Drafted ATHENAI Act
National Association of Scholars |
“The National Association of Scholars commends the Athenai Institute for releasing model legislation aimed at uprooting Confucius Institutes from American higher education. The draft bill, called the Action to Halt the Expansion of Neo-Authoritarian Influence (ATHENAI) Act, is meant for use by state legislators. It would require colleges and universities to close their Confucius Institutes by January 1, 2021 on penalty of losing state education funding.”
National Review | Rachelle Peterson
“Hanes’s bill deserves widespread support, and not just from Republicans. Fighting the pernicious influence of Confucius Institutes is a bipartisan cause, as illustrated most recently by the Athenai Institute’s Washington Appeal, which called for the closure of all the Institutes and was signed by the chairs of both the College Democrats of America and the College Republicans National Committee.”
Newsweek | Brendan Cole
“The Athenai Institute… a non-profit which formed this year, has called for the closure of all Confucius Institutes in the U.S. saying they are tools used by the CCP to control discourse on China… ‘[t]he overwhelming evidence is that they are proprietary institutions of an authoritarian government,’ Rory O'Connor, president of the Athenai Institute told Newsweek.
Voice of America | Ping Zhang
“Two of the largest U.S. college campus political organizations are calling for the closure of all Confucius Institutes in the United States, saying the Beijing-funded outposts are part of the Chinese Communist Party's attempt to control discourse on China at American universities… [t]he Athenai Institute, a recently formed non-profit organization ‘dedicated to limiting the influence of the Chinese Communist Party on U.S. college campuses’, published the letter.”
The Epoch Times | Miguel Moreno
“Athenai… is demanding that American academic institutions shut down the CCP’s Confucius Institutes all across the country.”
NTD | Miguel Moreno
“A newly-formed non-profit society of college students from across the United States is demanding that American academic institutions shut down Confucius Institutes… ‘[i]f we don’t have an accurate perception of China, if we don’t have an accurate understanding of the Chinese Communist Party, we can’t actually make effective well informed decisions,’ said President Rory O’Connor of the Athenai Institute. ‘And that has implications, that has costs, that has consequences.’”
The College Fix |
“In a rare show of solidarity, College Republicans and College Democrats have joined together to reduce the influence of China’s Communist Party on American campuses. The opposing national political groups have joined a project led by the newly formed Athenai Institute to push colleges to close their Confucius Institutes, among other things. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has determined the institutes to be centers for pro-Communist propaganda in America.”
Yahoo! News | Zachary Evans
“In its first official act, the Athenai Institute released a letter on Wednesday calling for the closure of Confucius institutes at U.S. colleges and universities, as well as for “full and public disclosure of all ties, both financial and academic, between centers of higher learning and all Chinese state agencies and proxies.”
Axios | Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
“The bipartisan consensus on China may have fallen apart in Washington, but it's still going strong on American campuses…. What's happening: Dozens of leading members of both the College Republican National Committee and the College Democrats of America, representing universities in more than 45 states, have released a joint letter today that calls for the permanent closure of Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes on all U.S. campuses, protections for students and campus groups that are vulnerable to Chinese government coercion, and condemnation of anti-Asian racism.”
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“Repression at Georgetown: Protecting Chinese students' right to free expression”
A panel discussion to be held on February 21, 7:30 pm, to support Chinese students’ rights to free expression, at Healey Family Student Center by the Georgetown Asian American Students Association.…
Yesterday, CCP-led authorities in Hong Kong issued a HK$1 million bounty for the arrest of activist and Athenai advisor, @jooeysiiu.
We stand in solidarity with Joey, and condemn this cynical attempt to suppress her and other HK human rights advocates.
See our statement below:
“In every aspect of our work on this committee we’ve heard this refrain— ‘CCP malign behavior is a huge problem, but I’m afraid to speak out about it.’” — Chairman @RepGallagher discusses how US universities, Hollywood, tech executives, and bankers refuse to speak out.
This morning I, a U.S. citizen, woke up to the news that an arrest warrant & a HKD $1 million bounty have been placed on my head by the Hong Kong govt. for exercising my freedoms in my own country.
More to say later but for now: I will never be silenced, I will never back down.
