The last remaining Confucius Institute (CI) in Indiana, which has recently been accused by the state government of operating as a propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is going to close next spring. Valparaiso University, a private Lutheran institution in Northwest Indiana, on Tuesday, announced it will shut down the CI on its campus on Mar. 1, 2022. According to the school’s website, the CI at Valparaiso (CIVU) was founded in 2008 with the goals of teaching Chinese culture and language, and promoting cultural exchange. Once numbering over 100, there are now less than 50 U.S. colleges and universities that still maintain their CI programs through partnerships with Hanban, an agency within China’s Ministry of Education. Hanban generally provides startup and annual funding, recruits language teachers from China, and supervises teaching materials and curricula. In a letter explaining the decision to students, faculty, staff, and alumni, Valparaiso President …