4 Iowa College lecturers attacked while visiting a partner university in China

Four faculty members at Cornell College in Iowa, teaching as part of a partnership with a local university in China, were attacked in a “serious incident” in a public park, college officials said Monday.

Jonathan Brand, president of the private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, said in a statement that the teachers were “injured in a serious incident” during a visit to a public park on Sunday with a faculty member from Beihua University, the college’s sister university in the northeastern Chinese city of Jilin.

“We have been in contact with all four teachers and are supporting them during this time,” Brand said in the statement. No students participated in the program, he said.

Details of the attack, including the condition of the lecturers and whether they were targeted, remained unclear Monday. The college has contacted each individual lecturer, said Jen Visser, a university spokeswoman.

Beihua University officials have contacted coordinating staff at Cornell College, Ms Visser said, but it is unclear what information was passed on.

Ms Visser declined to provide further information about the attack.

The partnership between Cornell College and Beihua University began in 2018, Ms. Visser said. According to a 2018 press release, Beihua University provides funding for Cornell professors to travel to China for a two-week period to teach computer science, mathematics and physics.