What will the nickname be

[IndyValpo]

Not necessarily your favorite but who will they choose...

[VALPO LI]

The Birds from the Dunes!

[IndyValpo]

I completely forgot that Beacons were an option!!!

[govalpogo]

So, is there a time for this announcement? 

[mj]

Beacons it is!

[VUBBFan]

I was hoping for the Dunehawks, because it was more of a Sports type of Mascot, but hey they wanted it to be something that can't be controversial. I really can't see a Beacon as a Mascot.

https://twitter.com/ValpoU/status/1425121007585566722

[crusader05]

I like it, it's really the one that has the most alignment with Valpo and embraces our faith tradition, including with the top of the chapel on the light house.

They've also consistently called it a "nickname" not a mascot and I've heard that there are plans for student involvement later. I wonder if we will have both a new nickname and a new mascot

[valpo64]

What a joke!  Terrible judgement beginning with the original committee down to the final list.  What can you expect when they had to choose a name from a bad list...you can only get a bad choice.

[vu72]

I like it, it's really the one that has the most alignment with Valpo and embraces our faith tradition, including with the top of the chapel on the light house.

They've also consistently called it a "nickname" not a mascot and I've heard that there are plans for student involvement later. I wonder if we will have both a new nickname and a new mascot

I also like the incorporation of the Chapel's roofline into the Beacon art work.

[usc4valpo]

If the teams are not meetings expectations. are they the Fighting LEDs?

[Valpower]

I like it, it's really the one that has the most alignment with Valpo and embraces our faith tradition, including with the top of the chapel on the light house.

They've also consistently called it a "nickname" not a mascot and I've heard that there are plans for student involvement later. I wonder if we will have both a new nickname and a new mascot

I also like the incorporation of the Chapel's roofline into the Beacon art work.

I figured it would prevail over others.  I thought maybe IndyValpo had inside knowledge when he omitted it in the initial poll.  I like it as it's unique, uncontroversial, and flexible in its ability to evoke many things, such as faith, leadership, education, etc.  I can also see brisk sales of chapel-roofline foam hats to fans.

[valpopal]

Well, this developing news story certainly counters any positive energy created by today's announcement of a new nickname! 


[tweet]1425144193895239683[/tweet]

[JBC1824]

Well, this developing news story certainly counters any positive energy created by today's announcement of a new nickname! 


[tweet]1425144193895239683[/tweet]

Holy crap.

Is it a coincidence the university chose to announce it's new nickname today then?

Would be excellent public relations to make the announcement today in order to distract from this unfortunate piece of news.

Only saying that this is a possibility.

[vok22]

Well, this developing news story certainly counters any positive energy created by today's announcement of a new nickname! 


[tweet]1425144193895239683[/tweet]

Holy crap.

Is it a coincidence the university chose to announce it's new nickname today then?

Would be excellent public relations to make the announcement today in order to distract from this unfortunate piece of news.

Only saying that this is a possibility.

And perhaps if they found this out on short notice, a reason the logo looks like it was thrown together in 10 minutes by an elementary schooler.

[JBC1824]

Well, this developing news story certainly counters any positive energy created by today's announcement of a new nickname! 


[tweet]1425144193895239683[/tweet]

Holy crap.

Is it a coincidence the university chose to announce it's new nickname today then?

Would be excellent public relations to make the announcement today in order to distract from this unfortunate piece of news.

Only saying that this is a possibility.

And perhaps if they found this out on short notice, a reason the logo looks like it was thrown together in 10 minutes by an elementary schooler.

Maybe they also should have chosen "Red Dragons" or "Panda Bears," given the university's alleged connections to the Confucius Institute. LOL.

https://twitter.com/band_jayne/status/1401044374516121601

[humbleopinion]

Todd RoQita will do anything to get publicity following conspiracy theories wherever they go.

[NativeCheesehead]

I had to reread the article three times to confirm it wasn't from The Onion.

[valpotx]

This is just stupid.  Similar to how the US funds American interests overseas, in order to bring awareness to their country, a lot of other countries do the same thing. 

[JBC1824]

I agree it is possible this investigation may be politically motivated and focused primarily on making headlines -- very unfortunately at the expense of Valparaiso University.

Todd Rokita is a Republican, while Valpo is surely on many a conservative's "sh*t-list" at the moment. Valpo's new president worked on Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot's transition team, and more notably, the university just kowtowed to cancel culture by changing its nickname.

However, I still found myself asking why else Valpo might have stood out to the state attorney general's office amongst the other colleges and universities in Indiana that may have ultimately received money from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for hosting Confucius Institutes in recent years. 

A quick search shows that other Indiana schools having recently featured Confucius Institutes included IU, Purdue, and IUPUI, amongst others. Apparently, these schools and many others did away with their Confucius Institutes, particularly after federal law was passed in 2019 prohibiting the U.S. colleges and universities with Confucius Institutes from receiving funding specifically for Chinese language studies.

However, Valparaiso continues to maintain its Confucius Institute and appears to currently be the only Indiana based college or university to do so.

Due to increasing concerns about the types of influence exerted by Confucius Institutes, the number of colleges and universities featuring the institutes has dramatically declined over the past decade. There are currently only 35 Confucius Institutes remaining at American colleges and universities, and many of these will soon be closed as well.

https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/how_many_confucius_institutes_are_in_the_united_states

It's also possible that what has led to some of this extra attention being paid to Valpo by the attorney general's office has something to do with the documents filed by Valpo showing it had received more than a million dollars from the CCP not revealing how this funding was put to use. This ambiguity may ultimately have invited these questions and criticism.

If this non-disclosure reflects a simple oversight by the university, it could prove to be a very costly one indeed. Valpo's reputation will have taken a hit because of this investigation and the attention it has drawn from publications as popular as The Daily Wire.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/indianas-attorney-general-launches-probe-into-chinese-communist-partys-domestic-propaganda-program

One thing that can be said with certainty is that it was exceedingly foolish of Valpo's decision-makers not to have made plans to discontinue its own Confucius Institute. In recent years, opinion on this issue has decidedly shifted, and Valpo has allowed itself to fall on the wrong side of this.

Now, it is true that Confucius Institutes have operated differently at different colleges and universities. However, there have been many examples of these institutes exerting a nefarious influence at schools, some of which were mentioned in a 2013 article written by University of Chicago professor Marshall Sahlins, in part citing the comments of another university professor,

"In an interview reported in The New York Times, June Teufel Dreyer, who teaches Chinese government and foreign policy at Miami University, said: 'You're told not to discuss the Dalai Lama—or to invite the Dalai Lama to campus. Tibet, Taiwan, China's military buildup, factional fights inside the Chinese leadership—these are all off limits.' The Confucius Institutes at North Carolina State University and the University of Sydney actively attempted to prevent the Dalai Lama from speaking. At Sydney, he had to speak off-campus, and the CI sponsored a lecture by a Chinese academic who had previously claimed that Tibet was always part of China, notwithstanding that it was mired in feudal darkness and serfdom until the Chinese democratic reforms of 1959. The Confucius Institute at Waterloo University mobilized its students to defend the Chinese repression of a Tibetan uprising, and McMaster University and Tel Aviv University ran into difficulties with the legal authorities because of the anti–Falun Gong activities of their Confucius Institutes. Other taboo subjects include the Tiananmen massacre, blacklisted authors, human rights, the jailing of dissidents, the democracy movement, currency manipulation, environmental pollution and the Uighur autonomy movement in Xinjiang."

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/china-u/

The comments made by the CCP's "Minister of Propaganda" about the purpose of Confucius Institutes as described in the Indiana.gov announcement of Rokita's investigation are also revealing. I'd encourage anyone to read them over once more. 

https://events.in.gov/event/attorney_general_todd_rokita_investigates_chinese_communist_partys_propaganda_program

Also mentioned in this announcement is that Chinese directors and teachers for Confucius Institutes have their contracts terminated if these individuals are found to "engage in activities detrimental to [Chinese] national interests."

Moreover, in a 2011 speech made by CCP politburo member Li Changchun, Confucius Institutes were described as having made "important contributions toward improving our soft power."

And, "The 'Confucius' brand has a natural attractiveness. Using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical."

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/16/how-china-infiltrated-us-classrooms-216327/

(Politico has been given the media bias rating "Leans Left" by bias rating website All Sides.)

Therefore, it is unfortunately not accurate to say that Confucius Institutes only seek to "bring awareness" to China, in the same way a lot of other countries do.

It would be awfully naive to assume the CCP is in the habit of giving out millions of dollars to colleges and universities around the globe only to teach others about Chinese language and culture.

What is also concerning about this revelation that Valparaiso University received over a million dollars from the CCP over the past decade or so is that this is perhaps further evidence of the university's financial struggles.

A 2012 article published in the New York Times described those colleges and universities to which Confucius Institutes would likely appeal most to as "cash-strapped."

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/us/critics-worry-about-influence-of-chinese-institutes-on-us-campuses.html

Any way you look at this issue, it is very sad news for Valpo. I am more concerned than I have ever been about the university's future.

[valpopal]

I agree it is possible this investigation may be politically motivated and focused primarily on making headlines -- very unfortunately at the expense of Valparaiso University.

Thank you JBC1824 for the detailed information. I seriously doubt there is any legal problem for Valparaiso University, but the publicity can be damaging, as you indicate, especially among any who do not read beyond the headlines.


However, the investigation might likely raise questions concerning direct or indirect (even subconscious) influence that might exist due to the relationships with China's government and the funding involved. For instance, some might question whether the university has been oddly silent, reluctant to criticize China for well-documented human rights violations and international positions on Covid or the environment, especially since the administration and faculty are not shy about voicing opinions and making proclamations, official and unofficial, on numerous political or social issues among many other sources, even to the point of changing the mascot and school nickname, as noted in this thread.


The university probably should release a full and compelling response as soon as possible, perhaps containing a clear repudiation of certain Chinese government actions, to prevent poor public relations and push back in time to keep this story from gaining traction. 

[Just Sayin]

I agree it is possible this investigation may be politically motivated and focused primarily on making headlines -- very unfortunately at the expense of Valparaiso University.

Todd Rokita is a Republican, while Valpo is surely on many a conservative's "sh*t-list" at the moment. Valpo's new president worked on Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot's transition team, and more notably, the university just kowtowed to cancel culture by changing its nickname.

However, I still found myself asking why else Valpo might have stood out to the state attorney general's office amongst the other colleges and universities in Indiana that may have ultimately received money from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for hosting Confucius Institutes in recent years. 

A quick search shows that other Indiana schools having recently featured Confucius Institutes included IU, Purdue, and IUPUI, amongst others. Apparently, these schools and many others did away with their Confucius Institutes, particularly after federal law was passed in 2019 prohibiting the U.S. colleges and universities with Confucius Institutes from receiving funding specifically for Chinese language studies.

However, Valparaiso continues to maintain its Confucius Institute and appears to currently be the only Indiana based college or university to do so.

Due to increasing concerns about the types of influence exerted by Confucius Institutes, the number of colleges and universities featuring the institutes has dramatically declined over the past decade. There are currently only 35 Confucius Institutes remaining at American colleges and universities, and many of these will soon be closed as well.

https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/how_many_confucius_institutes_are_in_the_united_states

It's also possible that what has led to some of this extra attention being paid to Valpo by the attorney general's office has something to do with the documents filed by Valpo showing it had received more than a million dollars from the CCP not revealing how this funding was put to use. This ambiguity may ultimately have invited these questions and criticism.

If this non-disclosure reflects a simple oversight by the university, it could prove to be a very costly one indeed. Valpo's reputation will have taken a hit because of this investigation and the attention it has drawn from publications as popular as The Daily Wire.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/indianas-attorney-general-launches-probe-into-chinese-communist-partys-domestic-propaganda-program

One thing that can be said with certainty is that it was exceedingly foolish of Valpo's decision-makers not to have made plans to discontinue its own Confucius Institute. In recent years, opinion on this issue has decidedly shifted, and Valpo has allowed itself to fall on the wrong side of this.

Now, it is true that Confucius Institutes have operated differently at different colleges and universities. However, there have been many examples of these institutes exerting a nefarious influence at schools, some of which were mentioned in a 2013 article written by University of Chicago professor Marshall Sahlins, in part citing the comments of another university professor,

"In an interview reported in The New York Times, June Teufel Dreyer, who teaches Chinese government and foreign policy at Miami University, said: 'You're told not to discuss the Dalai Lama—or to invite the Dalai Lama to campus. Tibet, Taiwan, China's military buildup, factional fights inside the Chinese leadership—these are all off limits.' The Confucius Institutes at North Carolina State University and the University of Sydney actively attempted to prevent the Dalai Lama from speaking. At Sydney, he had to speak off-campus, and the CI sponsored a lecture by a Chinese academic who had previously claimed that Tibet was always part of China, notwithstanding that it was mired in feudal darkness and serfdom until the Chinese democratic reforms of 1959. The Confucius Institute at Waterloo University mobilized its students to defend the Chinese repression of a Tibetan uprising, and McMaster University and Tel Aviv University ran into difficulties with the legal authorities because of the anti–Falun Gong activities of their Confucius Institutes. Other taboo subjects include the Tiananmen massacre, blacklisted authors, human rights, the jailing of dissidents, the democracy movement, currency manipulation, environmental pollution and the Uighur autonomy movement in Xinjiang."

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/china-u/

The comments made by the CCP's "Minister of Propaganda" about the purpose of Confucius Institutes as described in the Indiana.gov announcement of Rokita's investigation are also revealing. I'd encourage anyone to read them over once more. 

https://events.in.gov/event/attorney_general_todd_rokita_investigates_chinese_communist_partys_propaganda_program

Also mentioned in this announcement is that Chinese directors and teachers for Confucius Institutes have their contracts terminated if these individuals are found to "engage in activities detrimental to [Chinese] national interests."

Moreover, in a 2011 speech made by CCP politburo member Li Changchun, Confucius Institutes were described as having made "important contributions toward improving our soft power."

And, "The 'Confucius' brand has a natural attractiveness. Using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical."

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/16/how-china-infiltrated-us-classrooms-216327/

(Politico has been given the media bias rating "Leans Left" by bias rating website All Sides.)

Therefore, it is unfortunately not accurate to say that Confucius Institutes only seek to "bring awareness" to China, in the same way a lot of other countries do.

It would be awfully naive to assume the CCP is in the habit of giving out millions of dollars to colleges and universities around the globe only to teach others about Chinese language and culture.

What is also concerning about this revelation that Valparaiso University received over a million dollars from the CCP over the past decade or so is that this is perhaps further evidence of the university's financial struggles.

A 2012 article published in the New York Times described those colleges and universities to which Confucius Institutes would likely appeal most to as "cash-strapped."

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/us/critics-worry-about-influence-of-chinese-institutes-on-us-campuses.html

Any way you look at this issue, it is very sad news for Valpo. I am more concerned than I have ever been about the university's future.

Great work.

[JBC1824]

I agree it is possible this investigation may be politically motivated and focused primarily on making headlines -- very unfortunately at the expense of Valparaiso University.

Thank you JBC1824 for the detailed information. I seriously doubt there is any legal problem for Valparaiso University, but the publicity can be damaging, as you indicate, especially among any who do not read beyond the headlines.


However, the investigation might likely raise questions concerning direct or indirect (even subconscious) influence that might exist due to the relationships with China's government and the funding involved. For instance, some might question whether the university has been oddly silent, reluctant to criticize China for well-documented human rights violations and international positions on Covid or the environment, especially since the administration and faculty are not shy about voicing opinions and making proclamations, official and unofficial, on numerous political or social issues among many other sources, even to the point of changing the mascot and school nickname, as noted in this thread.


The university probably should release a full and compelling response as soon as possible, perhaps containing a clear repudiation of certain Chinese government actions, to prevent poor public relations and push back in time to keep this story from gaining traction. 

Completely agreed. The court of public opinion is what will likely matter most here. And I'm genuinely freaking out about how this might impact enrollment.

Was really unwise for the decision-makers to not realize the way this issue was trending and make changes.

[bbtds]

I really hope this communist influence investigation goes back all the way to the 1920's when Mikhail Borodin attended Valpo.

Get that communist school Todd Rokita!!!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Borodin

was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Communist International (Comintern) agent. He was an advisor to Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang (KMT) in China during the 1920s.

Born in a rural part of the Russian Empire (now Belarus), to a Jewish family, Borodin joined the General Jewish Labour Bund at age sixteen, and then the Bolsheviks in 1903. After being arrested for participating in revolutionary activities, Borodin fled to America, attended Valparaiso University, started a family, and later established an English school for Russian Jewish immigrants in Chicago.


It is obvious that VU has been influenced by communists all along. Why didn't McCarthy discover this influence?

I think Valpo with Borodin's influence might be behind the Kung flu/Wuhan virus/Covid outbreak in the world



Borodin making a speech in Wuhan, 1927

[bbtds]

Was really unwise for the decision-makers to not realize the way this issue was trending and make changes.

Wasn't it making changes that got us in all this trouble in the first place?

Now we are a communist school?

Oh Dear Lord!

[IrishDawg]

Rokita is a clown.  Much like him signing on to overturn the election, or trying to prevent the governor from being able to exercise basic executive functions during a health emergency, he doesn't really care what the law actually says and is just a performer on a stage trying to make certain people happy to try and parlay this role into a greater one at either the state or national level.

Valpo will be fine.  Sadly the people of the state will pay for this "investigation" that will turn up nothing, but Rokita got his headline, and that's all that really matters to him.