President Machtley addresses Confucius Institute conference in Beijing

Speech focuses on Bryant’s commitment to teaching Chinese language and culture.

On Tuesday, Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley had the honor of serving as the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the annual Confucius Institute conference in Beijing. In attendance were more than 2,000 leaders from around the world, including 200 presidents of institutions that host a Confucius Institute.

“Each of us has our own national interests and our pasts are different, yet we are here today – bound by a common interest – to understand China through its language and its culture,” he said after greeting the crowd in Chinese.

Machtley spoke about Bryant’s commitment to provide students with wide-ranging opportunities to learn Chinese language and culture and how to conduct business in China.

Immersed in global education

Under Machtley’s leadership, Bryant made a strategic decision in the late 1990s to create opportunities for Bryant students and faculty to learn about Chinese language and culture.

Bryant Associate Professor Hong Yang began taking students to China in 1999. In 2005, he was named director of Bryant’s U.S.-China Institute, which was created to forge academic, business, and cultural partnerships between the University and China’s higher education institutions, businesses, and government.

In October 2006, Bryant was recognized with the official designation of a Confucius Institute, one of 52 centers around the country dedicated to the promotion of Chinese language and culture. The official grand opening last September featured Zhuang Zedong, the famed Chinese table tennis player who helped start what later became known as “Ping Pong Diplomacy.”

Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley had the honor of serving as the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the annual Confucius Institute conference in Beijing.

Machtley emphasized the support of the Confucius Institute in developing world-class educational opportunities for Bryant students. More than 300 students have studied in China, while 30 percent of faculty, 80 percent of senior administration, and 33 percent of board of trustees members have traveled to China in support of the University’s goals.

“Only with the designation of Bryant University as a Confucius Institute and the resulting resources have we been able to more fully implement a China strategy across the whole University and into our surrounding communities and businesses,” he said.

Cultural appreciation

Beyond visiting and studying in China, Bryant is creating campus learning opportunities by hiring additional Chinese language professors, adding reference material in the Confucius Institute Library, and holding cultural activities. Bryant has sought to hire at least one Chinese professor in each academic department. The University has also ventured into surrounding communities and is currently working with six high school districts to teach their students Chinese language and culture.

“The future of the world is in our hands,” said Machtley. “Today, in one of our universities, may be the future Premier of China, Prime Minister of Japan, or President of the United States.

Having an open mind that appreciates customs and learns from others is vital in today’s interconnected world, he continued.

“We believe that the only way for our countries and the world to live peacefully in a time of competitive economies and ever decreasing resources is to be able to speak another’s language and to appreciate their culture.”