Carleton students are at risk from influence from the Confucius Institute (CI), an institute affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education. Other institutions in Canada have already ended contracts with the Confucius Institute, citing the controversial role the institute plays in the teaching of Chinese language and culture.

Today we join a global movement of 40 universities in the US and more than 5 Canadian institutions, and many others across the world in questioning the role of the institute has on our campuses.

In order to protect the student body, we demand that Carleton provides transparency regarding the protections, if any, put in place to protect the student body from foreign influence propagated by the institute. Like the protections put in place by the University of Saskatchewan, which may protect academic freedoms.

We bring up these questions in order to better assess the ways in which the rights of Carleton students can be protected, and if necessary, to call for the university to end its ties with the Confucius Institute, and to tell the University we care about the protection of academic freedoms.

Until then, I also call upon the student body to let Carleton we know that we care about academic freedoms, by opting instead take Chinese languages courses at uOttawa through the University of Ottawa exchange program this year, and if that's not possible, to avoid taking Chinese courses at Carleton.