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rely on faculty from NYU’s campus in New York to help us to con-
duct the search. And the search is all on the academic merits. 
It is a very rigorous and extensive process. Potential faculty 
members’ publications are reviewed by the search committee. A 
small group of finalists are then brought in to give what are called 
job talks, where they have to give a lecture, effectively conduct a 
class in the way that they should, and then ultimately offers are 
extended. 
You can see from Appendix 1 to my testimony the list of the peo-
ple who are teaching at NYU Shanghai. They are extraordinarily 
distinguished people. They did their academic training at the finest 
universities in the world. They did postdocs at the finest univer-
sities in the world. We also have visiting faculty from New York 
who are members of the National Academy of Sciences, the Amer-
ican Academic of Arts and Sciences. This is an extraordinary group 
of faculty. People who have held endowed chairs at institutions like 
Cornell and Northwestern University have come to teach with us. 
The Communist Party has no say, the Chinese Government has 
no say, no voice in this process at all. East China Normal Univer-
sity, which is the partner to NYU in this process, has no voice in 
this process. Our graduates get degrees from New York University. 
They get degrees from the trustees of New York University. They 
do not get degrees from East China Normal University. So NYU is 
responsible for the education that they receive and the quality that 
they receive. 
In terms of the admissions process, again, it is completely con-
trolled by NYU. The process is complex. So half of our students 
come from China and the other half come from the rest of the 
world. 
Mr. S
MITH
. And that is what, about 2,000? What is the number 
that you will build out to? 
Mr. L
EHMAN
. When we are full grown, it will be 2,000 under-
graduates. That is to say, 500 per year, 251 from China in each en-
tering class, 249 from the rest of the world. In the startup period, 
we have had only 300 students in each entering class, so 151 from 
China, 149 from the rest of the world. 
The students who apply from the rest of the world follow a proc-
ess that is the same as for NYU New York, NYU Abu Dhabi, the 
common application, they submit essays. They indicate which cam-
pus they would like to go to, and they are free to select Shanghai 
or New York or Abu Dhabi or any two or all three as their pref-
erences, and they can rank what their preferences are. The process 
is a little bit more intensive than it is in New York because we are 
small. So our admissions office in New York is able to actually con-
duct video interviews with finalists who are applicants in New 
York. 
Mr. S
MITH
. Can I ask you, while you are answering, can a Falun 
Gong practitioner be admitted to NYU and also be hired as a pro-
fessor? 
Mr. L
EHMAN
. Sure. I mean, they could. 
Mr. S
MITH
. Do you have any? 
Mr. L
EHMAN
. No, we don’t have any. I don’t know that we have 
received any. We don’t ask people about their religious preferences 
when they apply for application. 
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73
Mr. S
MITH
. But you believe you would be free enough that if a 
Falun Gong practitioner said, ‘‘This is my expertise,’’ has the aca-
demic gravitas to take on that position, you would be able to do it? 
Mr. L
EHMAN
. Yeah. If they were the most qualified applicants we 
could hire them, absolutely. 
Mr. S
MITH
. But is there any fear of self-censorship where you be-
lieve that could hurt your standing with the government? You 
would have no such concerns? 
Mr. L
EHMAN
. We came on a condition, and the condition was that 
NYU would be NYU. And the government said: Good, that is what 
we would like. If they were to change their mind, then we would 
leave. But so far, so good. 
So as the other witnesses have testified, China is a constantly 
changing place. And it is as Mr. Daly testified right now, there are 
mixed signals all around us. We hear different voices all the time. 
And so we don’t know what tomorrow will be like. But I would be 
very surprised if the government of Shanghai were to say: Well, 
sorry, we don’t want you anymore. But they could. That is their 
prerogative. Conversely, they could try to go partway and say: 
Well, we want you, but you can’t have academic freedom. And if 
they did that, then NYU would leave. 
Mr. S
MITH
. Well, can I ask you then in followup, there was a let-
ter dated September 3—I am sure you have seen it—2013 to the 
NYU Board of Trustees signed by five members of the faculty, in-
cluding Andrew Ross, the president of NYU AAUP, and they wrote, 
‘‘We are obliged to record some grave concerns expressed by our 
members about the prospects of academic freedom in China and at 
the new campus.’’
They speak to the seven silences and whether or not those—and 
I mentioned in my opening universal freedoms, press freedom, and 
the like—would be able to be spoken about, discussed, inquiry in 
an unfettered way. And they also said how concerned they were, 
and this is their words: ‘‘Under such circumstances, self-censorship 
of instructors and students is certain.’’ They didn’t say it is a prob-
ability, they said it is certain. How do you respond to that? 
Mr. L
EHMAN
. Well, they are entitled to their opinion, but that 
opinion is not correct. That letter was written just as we were 
starting to begin teaching, and I think it was perhaps appropriate 
at that time for them to have had some concerns about how things 
would play out. But as things have played out, we have enjoyed full 
academic freedom on our campus. 
And so I don’t know all five, I don’t recall all five of the signato-
ries to that letter, but certainly one faculty member from New York 
who was quite vocal in expressing her concerns about how things 
would play out in Shanghai has talked with us and has gone back 
and told people: No, there is academic freedom, absolutely, at NYU 
Shanghai. 
I would actually direct your attention, there is a blog published 
by a professor called PrawfsBlawg, and in it there was a submis-
sion by a member of our faculty who talked about his course at 
NYU Shanghai. He is a member of the law school faculty at NYU 
New York, and he was visiting with us. 
And in his course, he says, in response to something that he had 
read: ‘‘I could not speak for anyone else at NYU Shanghai, but I, 
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