Marcell Felipe is a respected presence in the Miami legal community who serves as the board chair for the Inspire America Foundation and the Initiative for Democratic and Economic Alternatives for Cuba at Florida International University. In his capacity as a Miami Dade College (MDC) trustee, Marcell Felipe raised concerns that led to the shuttering of the last of four Chinese-government funded Confucius Institutes statewide.
The issues with MDC’s Confucius Institute, which provided Mandarin language education, included concerns detailed by Felipe in an email to the Miami Herald that “you can’t partner with an institution once you know they persecute their own academics.” By refusing to partner with the program, Miami Dade College was taking a stand in support of freedom and independence within US academic settings.
The successful efforts to close Confucius Institutes across Florida reflected concerted political will, with Republican US Senator Marco Rubio initially recommending the shutdown in 2018. More recently, a resolution was crafted by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Esteban Bovo, who highlighted national security concerns about the institute at MDC.
Marcell Felipe 