In recent days, Fulbright University Vietnam (Fulbright) has been the subject of vitriolic attacks on social media. These attacks, often accompanied by vile language – some even with the threat of violence against members of our community – have a common theme: that we engage in activities that foster a “color revolution” in Vietnam. Such a claim is not only baseless, it is preposterous. As President of the university, I must set the record straight about who we are and what we stand for.
Fulbright University Vietnam is a Vietnamese university
We were established via a decision by Vietnam’s Prime Minister (Decision No. 819/QD-TTg dated 16 May 2016). We are neither a branch campus of a foreign university nor an instrument of any foreign governments. As a Vietnamese university, we are subject to the full regulatory oversight of the Ministry of Education and Training. Our students take compulsory coursework that follows the national curriculum in political theory, law, physical education and national defense education. As one of our faculty members put it in an article for Tuoi Tre celebrating National Day, at Fulbright we believe in “Studying Vietnam, Understanding Vietnam, Loving Vietnam”.
We have enjoyed and continue to enjoy strong support from the government of Vietnam at the highest levels
The evidence for this is overwhelming and incontrovertible. Fulbright’s future campus is on 15 ha of land in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park provided by the Vietnamese government. And Fulbright has been prominently featured in three consecutive joint statements from Vietnamese and American leaders, issued by President Truong Tan Sang and President Barack Obama in 2013, by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Barack Obama in 2015 and by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Joseph Biden in 2023. On August 26th, 2024, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed the official view of the Vietnamese government that:
“Fulbright University Vietnam is a result of educational cooperation between Vietnam and the US, particularly in the field of high-quality workforce training. Vietnam welcomes its activities, as affirmed in the Joint Statement on upgrading Vietnam-US relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023. We hope and believe that Fulbright University Vietnam will continue making practical contributions to the development of the growing friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the US.”
We contribute to addressing national priorities in education
Vietnam currently has around 200,000 students studying in foreign countries. The existence of Fulbright broadens educational options here at home for Vietnamese parents and students. Today, at Fulbright, Vietnamese students can not only pursue an international quality education, but one that incubates a deep knowledge and appreciation of the Vietnamese context, traditions and opportunities. And as a not-for-profit university, supported by both governments and philanthropists, Fulbright is the first university in Vietnam to provide the great majority of its students with financial aid, ensuring that socio-economic background would not be a hindrance to one’s education. As a result, we have outstanding students from fifty-five provinces attending Fulbright at present, and thousands of graduates from our graduate and undergraduate programs who are thriving in the public and private sectors across the country.
We contribute to addressing Vietnam’s grand development challenges
We have an exceptionally well qualified faculty, with over 95% holding PhDs from top universities across the world. Our faculty design and deliver our innovative curriculum and conduct research on Vietnam’s development challenges. Fulbright’s School of Public Policy and Management, together with its partner Havard University, have since 2008 convened eight Vietnam Executive Leadership Programs, in which senior Vietnamese government officials (vice-minister level and above) engage in evidence-based policy dialogue on the most important challenges facing Vietnam. We are also focused on the high-tech sector; this month, for example, Fulbright co-hosted the country’s first Generative Artificial Intelligence Summit. One day later, Fulbright and Google announced a partnership to promote Artificial Intelligence research and training in Vietnam – an event which was covered extensively in the national news .
The simple truth is this:
We are a Vietnamese university, dedicated to expanding high-quality educational choices for Vietnam’s youth, devoted to its prosperity, benefiting from the support of Vietnam’s far-sighted leaders, and serving as a symbol of the long but fruitful process of Vietnam-U.S. reconciliation.
In closing, the spread of disinformation online in order to sow mistrust and division is a grand challenge of our age. And it has had real consequences for Fulbright, where our community has been unjustly defamed and distressed. Given Fulbright’s prominence in the Vietnam and US relationship, misinformation can also undermine the bilateral relationship that successive generations of leaders from both Vietnam and the United States have labored to advance over the past four decades.
Yet we are not passive victims of such offenses. In the past few weeks, we have worked closely with relevant authorities, who are investigating both the disinformation campaign and threats of violence that have been made. We sincerely thank our government partners and friends throughout society who have stood up for the truth of who we are and what we do.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said over 70 years ago, “Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” This is the spirit we must all bring to the spread of lies online. We can turn this experience into an opportunity to cultivate digital literacy in our ever more complex media environment. Together, we can demonstrate the power of education, critical thinking and respectful dialogue to create a more resilient society.
Sincerely,
Scott Andrew Fritzen
President, Fulbright University Vietnam
