Introduction
This edition of Steptoe's Higher Education Newsletter covers several recent developments, including:
- The conviction of a former visiting scholar at Columbia University for acting as an agent of the Chinese government;
- The Tenth Circuit's reversal of the conviction of a former professor at the University of Kansas for making a false statement;
- Florida A&M's acceptance of a fraudulent $237 million donation, resulting in the departure of the university's president and multiple other high-level officers;
- Notre Dame's suspension of its men's swimming program following an investigation into the team's involvement in illicit gambling; and
- A federal court's approval of a settlement under which multiple elite universities agreed to pay $284 million to resolve allegations that they violated antitrust laws in making financial aid determinations.
Each of these developments offers important lessons for how to mitigate risk and address issues when they arise. We hope you find this edition of our newsletter interesting and helpful. If you have ideas for topics you would like us to cover, please let us know.
Former Professor Convicted of Being a Chinese Spy
On August 6, 2024, Shejun Wang, a former professor at Qingdao College of Social Sciences and visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, was convicted in federal court of secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government.1 After a seven-day trial, Wang was convicted on four counts: conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general, acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general, criminal possession of identification, and making false statements to law enforcement.2 Wang's sentencing is set for January 9, 2025.
The Department of Justice (DOJ)'s complaint alleged that Wang founded the Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang Memorial Foundation, which was an organization dedicated to honoring former leaders of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) Communist Party (CCP) who promoted political and economic reforms in China and were eventually forced from power.3 DOJ alleged that many of the Memorial Foundation's members were well-known pro-democracy dissidents that opposed the current Chinese government.4 But according to DOJ, that was all a duplicitous front. DOJ's theory was that Wang used his position at the Memorial Foundation to collect information about U.S.-based dissidents and shared that information with the security apparatus of the PRC.5
DOJ alleged that Wang, as an "asset" of the CCP, worked with four Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) agents, feeding them information through in-person meetings in the PRC, written messages, and draft emails described as "diaries."6 The government alleged that, through a series of directives, Wang was tasked with collecting information related to attendees at Memorial Foundation meetings, upcoming protests, and a dissident political figure from Hong Kong.7
The government also detailed that an undercover agent met with Wang and told Wang that he (the agent) was sent by the "headquarters" and that MSS agents suspected Wang was under investigation.8 DOJ alleged that Wang asked the undercover agent to assist him with deleting the "diaries."9
To prove its conspiracy claim, DOJ had to prove that a conspiracy existed, that Wang knowingly and willfully became a member of the conspiracy, and that an overt act was committed in furtherance of the conspiracy. The overt alleged acts included, among others, Wang's recurring email "diaries" shared in correspondence with MSS agents and the information Wang sent to MSS agents related to Chinese pro-democracy movement members in the United States and other information regarding the Hong Kong dissident.10
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Footnotes
1. Tara McKelvey and Jane Tang, Historian. Activist. Spy?, Radio Free Asia (May 9, 2024), https://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/china-accused-spy-shujun-wang/index.html; Press Release, Queens Resident Convicted of Acting as a Covert Chinese Agent, United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York (Aug. 6, 2024), https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/queens-resident-convicted-actingcovert-chinese-agent.
2. Verdict Sheet, United States v. Wang, No. 1:22-cr-00230-DC (Aug. 7, 2024), ECF No. 104.
3. Compl. And Aff. in Support of Arrest Warrant, United States v. Wang, No. 1:22-cr-00230-DC at 4 (Mar. 8, 2022) ECF No. 1.
4. Id.
5. Id.
6. Id. at 6-7.
7. Id. at 7-13.
8. Id. at 15-17.
9. Id.
10. Jury Charge, United States v. Wang at 23-29 No. 1:22-cr-00230-DC (Aug. 7, 2024), ECF No. 103.
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