A longtime Miami attorney, Marcell Felipe is the founder of the Inspire America Foundation, an organization that provides policy advice and financial support to pro-democracy groups. Also a trustee of Miami Dade College (MDC), Marcell Felipe informed actions that led to the recent closure of the Confucius Institute, a Mandarin-language program supported by the Chinese government.
As reported in the Miami Herald, the institute attracted serious questions of propaganda and censorship, and drew concerns about the motives of China in backing the program. The institute also was facing overarching issues of dwindling enrollment, with the number of students in the program dropping from 86 in 2016 to 36 in 2019.
As Felipe described it in an email to the Herald, it is incumbent that MDC and other schools take a stand for academic independence. This precludes a school from partnering with an institution with ties to a government that persecutes its own academics.
Even with the closing of the Confucius Institute, Miami Dade College will have the option to take Mandarin courses within the modern languages curriculum.
