Duke U. Pushes Back Opening of Controversial Campus in China

September 16, 2011, 12:13 pm

Duke University will delay the opening of its campus in Kunshan, China, by a semester, to the spring of 2013, reports The Chronicle, the Duke student newspaper. In a meeting on Thursday with faculty members to discuss the controversial project, the university’s provost, Peter Lange, said bad weather had delayed construction. The planned campus has faced intense scrutiny from Duke professors, who have raised concerns about its financial feasibility, academic freedom in China, and how open administrators have been about its development.

In June faculty members at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business postponed a vote on proposed courses to be taught on the China campus.

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washingtonwarrior

El Camino College? Sounds classy!
willynilly

They certainly would classify as a “classy” institution if they owned up to the woman’s charges and made a fair settlement with her. All too often collegiate institutions turn away from the victim and turn toward their legal counsel hoping to find any flimsy rationale to avoid admitting harassment and providing a settlement. More commonly, institutions attempt to make the victim a victim again by discrediting the woman and placing the blame on her for the assult/harassment. If it is as it appears here – that El Camino stood tall and accepted responsibility – then, without a doubt, they are classy.
http://whytheology.wordpress.com/ Trey Medley

Like it or not, a sexual relationship between an individual and his/her supervisor (as in this case) is NEVER completely consensual. Regardless of whether there was a case for rape or not (my guess, without knowing too many details is that it was), sexual harrassment is likely. It is never appropriate or ethical to enter into a situation where one person who has power/authority/leadership/guidance over another person and begins a sexual/romantic relationship.
greeneyeshade

t_rey is correct.

The supervisor—in this case an older, very experienced dean—has a tremendous amount of power and the capacity to force what can appear to be a consensual affair. The subordinate may even go along with it in the moment, but is also conflicted and feels less and less able to resist the demands of her superior. It gets still more confusing for the victim because there may be a certain amount of pleasure or flattering attention accompanying the increasing demands made by the pursuer.

She may even feel the “affair” is her fault for a time. But I’ll bet she had some therapy, and what the therapist does is help such a person feel the natural anger they should feel for having been abused in this manner. Good anger–the type that demands redress.

That said, the settlement seems excessive. The dean should have paid more and the school (i.e., the taxpayers and the students from whom these monies come) should have paid a whole lot less, IMO.
denny2011

sounds like the dean and school got screw
609zr

China has 1,062 universities. The highest global ranking is 109–higher than most American universities. In my opinion, the majority of American schools with campuses overseas are of such poor quality that they should be boycotted by the host country. While Duke has the ability to offer a premier university, the convoluted nature of these programs combined with government interference tend to compromise any school’s ability to do so. Does Duke intend to staff the university with Westerners? China executes approximately 1,500 people per year. Among those executed are Westerners advocating democracy and religion.
richardtaborgreene

When country A puts its university 4423 into country B, many things interact. Some of the interactions erode values of country A and some erode values of country B. Anyone who plans to be and stay the same is going to be hugely disappointed until LATER in the history of this endeavor, when, successfully, BOTH sides will find a way to manage the joint venture so that no values of country A or B ever are eroded and all interactions are empty rituals. At this point the venture becomes mutually safe and satisfying for all, and a complete waste of money and time for any unfortunates—”students” I think is the technical word for them—who “attend”. However, a great many of these “students” will use the joint venture as a bridge or incentive or set of contacts for getting out of their own nation. This mis-use is probably one of the biggest profits for all in such ventures. The idea is flows of difference—establishing and encouraging flows of difference. We all need to look back at our own lives and those one or two professors or teachers whose one or two remarks in one or two classes—made us who we now are, turned us onto paths we otherwise would not have known about. Forget standardized tests, course designs, and all that stuff—flows of difference make all the difference!
taraw

Just wondering where the ranking data is coming from in the above comment … I just checked a few global ranking sources and none of them support the statement that China’s highest-ranking university is at #109 and most American universities fall below that mark. Just curious about the source.