The Confucius Institute (CI) program opened up under the leadership of WKU (Western Kentucky University), and became the first CI program in the state of Kentucky. The core program was the “Chinese Hanban Teacher Program,” in which the program recruited highly skilled Chinese teachers, and place them in K-12 schools throughout the state of Kentucky.
On April 22, 2019, WKU decided to end its partnership with the Confucius Institute to keep the Chinese Flagship Program funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Upon receiving the news, a new hosting institution was sought to keep the program open. Thus, on June 28, 2019, the Simpson County Board of Education became the new hosting institution to keep the program open (Read more). The program is now known as the “Confucius Institute of Western Kentucky (CIWKY).”
