Four college teachers at Cornell College in Iowa who work with a local university to teach in China were attacked in a park in a “serious incident,” they said Monday.
Jonathan Brand, president of the private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, said in a statement that teachers “experienced a serious incident” while visiting the park on Sunday. They were with a faculty member from Beihua University, a partner university in Jilin, northeastern China.
“We have been in contact with all four coaches and are assisting them during this time,” Mr. Brand said in the statement. No students are participating in the program, he said.
Details about the attack, including the instructor’s condition and whether the instructor was specifically targeted, remained unclear Monday. University spokesperson Jen Visser said the college has been in contact with every faculty member.
Visser said Beihua staff have been in contact with Cornell coordinators, but she said it’s unclear what information has been shared.
Ms. Visser declined to provide further information about the attack.
Ms. Visser said the collaboration between Cornell College and Beihua University began in 2018. According to the latest news in 2018, Beihua University provided funding for Cornell University professors to travel and live in China and teach computer science, mathematics, and physics for two weeks.
