Dear University and College Governing Board Members,
American institutions of higher learning are the envy of the world and have always stood for academic freedom and been invaluable advocates for human rights.
In 2020, I wrote to you in my former capacity as Under Secretary of State about the real and urgent threat to that ideal posed by the authoritarian influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This threat has broad implications for ensuring academic freedom, honoring human dignity, protecting university endowments, and safeguarding intellectual property. I wrote, as a former board chair of a major university, that I recognized that when addressing a strategic issue of this magnitude, the responsibility sits squarely on the shoulders of every board member and trustee.
As a former CEO of public companies and nonprofit organizations, I wrote similar letters to the CEOs and boards of all American companies as well as to the leaders of civil society groups urging them to divest from Chinese companies that are “involved or complicit with CCP’s human rights abuses, the surveillance state and military-civil fusion.” In fact, my final letter as a public servant was to the leaders of civil society organizations, where I wrote:
My experience in the business, education, and government sectors tells me that there is tremendous power in uniting those sectors as a force for good if we are all armed with the truth. The world is watching, and the integrity of our democracy and educational institutions is in our hands. Whether in the public sector, private sector, or as an everyday citizen, I look forward to continuing to work together to protect the freedoms we all hold dear.
In that same spirit of partnership, I now write to you as a private citizen in view of recent developments that touch upon the moral obligations and fiduciary duties of university and college board members.
You may already know that the grassroots Uyghur genocide divestment movement is growing, and, as trusted leaders, we have the opportunity to stand with our students and join them in addressing the CCP’s reported human rights abuses that are designed to eradicate the ethnicity and religious beliefs of Uyghurs and other Muslims confined to mass internment camps in the Xinjiang region of China.
Since my earlier letter to you, the U.S. government has officially declared the Chinese government’s abuses in Xinjiang genocide, determining in January 2021 that China’s governing authorities “are engaged in the forced assimilation and eventual erasure of a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group.” Around the world, the CCP’s atrocities against the Uyghurs have been recognized as genocide by lawmakers in the Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom, and a growing number of other countries.
As well, many Chinese tech companies are involved with the surveillance state and military-civil fusion. And of additional concern is a 2020 report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that revealed “new evidence that some factories across China are using forced Uyghur labor under a state-sponsored labor transfer scheme that is tainting the global supply chain.” The report identified 82 foreign and Chinese companies—including many well-known brands—found to be “potentially directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur workers outside Xinjiang through abusive labor transfer programs as recently as 2019.”
Grassroots Divestment Movement Answers the Call
The bipartisan Athenai Institute, a student-founded nonprofit, has responded to this call for divestment from malign Chinese companies by organizing a grassroots movement that is rapidly spreading across college campuses nationwide. In its recent letter to the presidents and governing boards of U.S. flagship public universities, the institute brought together an ideologically diverse coalition of political leaders, human rights groups, and leading student groups, including the College Republican National Committee and the College Democrats of America, in calling for divestment.
Students from Cornell, Georgetown and George Washington universities and the universities of Virginia and California, Los Angeles, are already mobilizing toward divestment from firms complicit in atrocities against the Uyghurs. Last year, the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., began an audit of its endowment holdings for any companies complicit in human rights abuses against Uyghurs after the student government unanimously passed a resolution calling on the university to divest its financial holdings connected to the genocide in Xinjiang.
Universities are Trusted Institutions
American universities are among the most trusted institutions in the world. We trust universities to uphold our values as free people, including academic freedom. In contrast, the CCP targets institutions like yours in order to plunder intellectual property, spread propaganda, and help finance its human rights abuses.
Universities have an opportunity to stand for higher principles by deploying the power of the purse. American universities have some $800 billion in total endowments, so their commitment to divestment would not be merely symbolic but would have a real and genuine impact and safeguard the lives and beliefs of others.
The leadership of the College Republicans and the College Democrats summarize this calling best: “In the fight against authoritarianism, universities can continue to benefit from the largesse of an emboldened authoritarian state, or they can stand on the right side of history. They cannot do both.”
In your meetings and policies, I hope you will join those who already are taking a stand and protect those rights that our democracy holds dear.
Keith Krach previously served as U.S. under secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment and the chairman of the Purdue University Board of Trustees. He is the former chairman and CEO of DocuSign and Ariba and currently serves as a cofounder and the chairman of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue.
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