The University of Oregon has been selected as one of 11 institutions to be part of a new campaign led by the US-China Strong Foundation called 1 Million Strong, which aims to grow the number of U.S. K–12 students learning Mandarin to one million by 2020.

The UO was selected after the Center for Applied Second Language Studies sent a letter of interest to Washington D.C. and the US-China Strong Foundation in September. The center aims to develop an internal promotional campaign starting in January.

“We are honored to have been selected as one of the implementation partners of the 1 Million Strong Campaign and look forward to working alongside innovative leaders in the field,” said language center director Julie Sykes. “I’m confident we can achieve the ambitious goal of dramatically increasing the number of students learning Chinese.”

The program’s mission is to strengthen U.S.-China relations by investing in a new generation of leaders who have the knowledge and skills to engage with China. The program has significant private sector support, including Caterpillar, Deloitte, LinkedIn, BGR Group, Walmart, P&G, Ford Foundation and AmCham China.

The 1 Million Strong Campaign is the latest the UO investment in U.S.-China relations. The key initiative of the program is the 100,000 Strong Campaign, which seeks to sharply increase and diversify study abroad to China.

“This new initiative will dovetail nicely with the goals of UO’s Confucius Institute and Chinese Flagship Grant, keeping UO at the forefront of Chinese Studies,” said Rachel DiNitto, head of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures.

In academic year 2015-16, the UO sent 30 students to China. A total of eight students interned and studied in China, including Hong Kong, this term. One of those students is Ava Jamerson, recipient of a Boren Scholarship and a participant in the Chinese Flagship Capstone program in Nanjing, China.

“There are a million reasons to study in China. For me, the primary reason is to live and learn in an immersive environment,” Jamerson said. “Apart from learning the language more efficiently, the amount of culture I absorb just through reading the news is more than I ever learned from any course or textbook.”

UO’s study abroad office, Global Education Oregon, offers five study programs and 10 GlobalWorks internships in China. Students can select from options like an exchange program at Hong Kong University, learning Chinese culture in Harbin and business and architecture internships in Shanghai.

President Obama launched the original 100,000 Strong Campaign in 2009 as a U.S. State Department initiative. In 2014, the initial goal of seeing 100,000 students study abroad in China was surpassed.

In the next fours years, the U.S.-China Strong Foundation will work closely with Washington and Beijing to strengthen high-level government support for study abroad in China.

To learn more about UO study abroad opportunities in China, talk with a GEO study abroad advisor in Room 330 Oregon Hall or visit geo.uoregon.ed.

—By Chakris Kussalanant, International Affairs