George Washington University Opts Out of China
In news first reported by student newspaper, The GW Hatchet, George Washington University has abandoned plans to build a campus in China.
The university had previously explored the possibility of seeking approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education to construct a campus that would partner with the University of International Business and Economics, in Beijing. These talks stalled after Doug Guthrie, GW’s former business school dean and vice president for China operations, was fired from his administrative posts in August for budget overages. “The university did not have a formal plan to build a campus in China,” Steven Lerman, the university’s provost, said. “We had been looking at a variety of options, and with the help of a faculty advisory group, we decided instead to enhance existing partnerships such as our new Confucius Institute and study abroad programs.”
Guthrie responded to the news in a recent interview where he said that he believed the administration’s decision to be a result of pushback from the Faculty Senate.
“It’s fully within the right of the administration and the faculty to decide what direction they want to go, but my hope is that universities will go as deep into relationships with China as they can,” said Guthrie, who currently holds a position as a professor of international business and management at George Washington.
“That was always my vision.”
