Posted By Gettysburgian Staff on Oct 14, 2022 | 1 comment

By:

• Nick Arbaugh ‘20, Former President of the Student Senate
• Matt Salton ‘20, Former President of the Gettysburg College Democrats
• Nico DiGiulio ‘20, Former President of the Gettysburg College Republicans
• Kevin Wright ‘20, Former Member of the Gettysburg College Democrats
• Brendan Salyards ‘20, Former Vice President of the Gettysburg College Democrats 
• Wellington Baumann ‘20, Former Vice President of the Gettysburg College Republicans

No one should expect perfection from Gettysburg College. Like any institution, it makes mistakes, there are sticky situations, screws come loose; it is an imperfect world after all. 

Even so, as proud alumni of Gettysburg College, we hold our alma mater to high standards in ethics and education. In this case, the College has failed to live up to those standards. We believe the College has betrayed its basic duty of ethical competence to students, alumni, and employees through its handling of the Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China’s speech to students and faculty on Oct. 6.  

In doing so, Gettysburg has engaged in an ill-advised attempt at publicity, squandered an opportunity to stand tall against the lies of an authoritarian regime, and, most importantly, demonstrated a total apathy towards the victims (past and present) of the Communist Party of China.

Let us be clear: This was not a single bad decision by a single person. This was instead a series of unethical and unwise decisions by the College at multiple levels that came to define this entire affair. Gettysburg brought a Communist Party member to campus to spew uncontroverted propaganda which included genocide denial, failed to challenge him on any of it, thanked him profusely, gave him a gift, and then tooted its own horn without acknowledging the ongoing human rights violations taking place in the People’s Republic of China. 

The College and the Eisenhower Institute should be embarrassed and ashamed. As alumni, we certainly are. 

On Oct. 6, the Eisenhower Institute welcomed a delegation from the Chinese consulate to speak in front of a small, select group of students and faculty. At that speech, the delegate engaged in much of the normal activities one might expect from a bureaucrat serving a communistic, totalitarian nation that every day seems to confirm its origin in the dystopian writings of George Orwell. With those in attendance properly chastened by Assistant Director’s warning to only engage in a “respectful way,” Deputy Consul General Jin Qian proceeded to spew lies, falsehoods, and genocide denial, none of which was seriously challenged. 

Of course, there was the usual disinformation in regards to the People’s Republic’s claims on Taiwan. Mr. Qian stated that his government wants peace, and doesn’t want to fight the Republic of China. He stated that the PRC’s aim was a “peaceful reunification of China.” Of course, nobody brought up the fact that Taiwan does not want to be “peacefully reunified.” After all, why would they? Neither did anyone confront him with the fact that the Communist Party has never renounced violent conflict to bring Taiwan down, or that US intelligence communities assess that Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. 

Moreover, the Deputy Consul compared China’s potential war of conquest to the American Civil War.  To compare China’s dreams of brutal subjugation of the Taiwanese people to the American Civil War would be laughable if it wasn’t so odious. The American Civil War brought about the emancipation of millions of people and ended the institution of chattel slavery in the United States. Will the occupation of Taiwan by the Communist Party of China do the same? Or will it extend the same totalitarian surveillance state that the Communist Party of China has already created? The people of Hong Kong know the answer. 

Yet, the Deputy Consul somehow managed to top this. How? Genocide denial, of course. 

Following a brave question on Xinjiang from a student not named in the Gettysburgian’s article on the speech, Mr. Qian derided the “narrative” about the Uyghur’s as a fake one produced by the media, and further proclaimed that it couldn’t be a genocide because the population of Xinjiang was increasing. 

We’re sure the Uyghurs, as they are piled into “re-education camps” where there is a shoot-to-kill policy for escapees, will be thrilled at the news. Never mind that the Uyghur population is actually shrinking in comparison to Xinjiang’s and that they are routinely subjected to forced sterilization and abortion while the Communist Party attempts to eradicate their culture. Not a single mention of these facts was made. 

Now, inviting the Deputy Consul General for a dialogue is one thing. Certainly, the College has an interest in inviting important people to speak, regardless of whether those important people hail from political organizations (the Communist Party of China) responsible for some of the most disgusting, inhuman atrocities of the modern era. Yet it is one thing to invite someone to speak, but it is quite another to leave unconfronted a series of bald-faced lies and then be proud of it. 

Gettysburg, unfortunately, did not appear to push back on any of Mr. Qian’s lies. On the contrary, it promoted them. It gave him a platform sheltered from real, biting criticism (which we are sure the students and faculty, unshackled, could muster). It thanked him kindly for the opportunity to hear him speak. It gave him a nice thank-you gift for his sophistry. And then, to top it all off, Gettysburg College trumpeted this visit with a glowing review of the affair that omits any mention of the Uyghurs or the other tens of millions who have been slaughtered in the last 100 years by the Chinese Communist Party.

Ignoring the ongoing persecution and plight of Uyghurs is particularly galling given the principles the College espouses to its own students of diversity and tolerance. 

The College before, during, and after our time there has stressed the importance of diversity and inclusion as fundamental values of Gettysburg – to empower historically disadvantaged people to do great work. We have a new Chief Diversity Officer for just that goal. As alumni, we recall being passionately taught that the value of a liberal arts education is in being prepared to think deeply and critically about the world around us and to fight for the truth.  In inviting this genocide apologist to speak without providing any meaningful opposition, fact-checking, or pushback, the College has failed to stand for any of the above values. 

Before we end, we want to make a few points crystal clear. We are not calling for anyone to be fired. We are not calling for anyone involved in this to be disciplined. We do not take issue with the actions of any of the faculty or students who asked questions at that meeting, as we understand the difficult situation they were placed in. Furthermore, we welcomed, and continue to welcome, international students from the People’s Republic of China on Gettysburg’s campus. They were and continue to be our peers and often our close friends. The Chinese people have always been and continue to be the first victims of the Communist Party of China. 

We also want to stress that we are not calling on the College to censor viewpoints which may make people uncomfortable or which some people deem morally or factually wrong. Censorship is never the answer. The answer to objectionable speech is more speech. Falsehood must be met with truth. That dialogue is the foundation of much of academia, and vibrant debate is the lifeblood of a strong college. 

Fundamentally, our issue is with the utter ethical breakdown that this whole episode demonstrates. Ongoing fundamental violations of basic human rights should not be ignored in the name of “respectful dialogue,” and speech paving over them should not be invited, protected from criticism, and then celebrated as a win. 

At some point, Gettysburg should have provided an opportunity for students to challenge the false narratives promoted by Mr. Qian and to understand the deeply troubling truth about the Communist Party of China, what it has done to the Chinese people, and what it is currently doing to the Uyghurs. It falls upon Gettysburg College to provide that opportunity now, for it is better late than never. Without any opposing speech or message, this debacle isn’t a learning opportunity for the College to be proud of, but an immense betrayal of the College’s values and a twenty-three-stab betrayal of the truth itself. To paraphrase an old teacher: For what shall it profit the College if it gains the whole world, but in the process of doing so it forfeits its soul?