Judson College has had a number of unique teachers and staff over the years, but now the school lays claim to one who protested against the Chinese government at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
“When the protest began I was teaching at Peking University,” Kathy Chen said.
“To protect my students I became involved in the student movement. I left Tiananmen Square on June 3 to meet a group from the U.S. Lutheran Church who w[as] visiting Beijing. When they arrived at my home that evening, the situation was very tense. Three hours after they left, the massacre started. I was dismayed by how the Chinese government handled dissent. With the help of the Lutheran Church, I resigned my job and came to America.”
Most recently moving from Salt Lake City, Utah, Chen now lives in Marion and began her role at Judson as director of Judson’s distance learning program in February.
Chen was born in Beijing but grew up in Inner Mongolia with her family. Her father earned a scholarship to the University of Chicago to study economics and later studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass.
The new communist government didn’t trust him so he and his family were exiled to what Chen called the “Chinese Siberia.”
“It was actually good to be in another country since many of the exiles were learned people,” she said. “It was a great place to be and to be stimulated intellectually.”
Chen earned two degrees at the Inner Mongolia Teachers University and taught language arts at Peking University.
With the scholarship provided by the Lutheran Church, she immigrated to America in 1990 and studied at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., earning a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with emphasis on educational technologies. Then she enrolled at Utah State University to earn her doctorate in instructional technology.
In addition to her work at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith, Chen has worked in IT at a number of businesses and industries in America.
When asked about moving to rural Alabama, Chen said she was impressed with such a “welcoming community.”
“I think it’s a privilege to work with young women and to help them grow,” she said. “Judson students can do whatever they want and modern technology can help them achieve their dreams.”
Chen said she grew up without religious training of any kind and it’s a misnomer to believe that China is a nation filled with religion. “People think Buddhism flourishes there, but it’s not true,” she said.
“Communist China does not encourage religion. We were taught that religion is the opium of the mind. In the past the Chinese worshipped Mao [Zedong]. Now people worship money. It’s very sad.”
Chen became a Christian in 1991 and said she has a unique way of finding the right church when she takes new work.
“The Holy Spirit always moves me,” she said. “When the Holy Spirit touches my heart, I know I’m in the right place. I’m at the place God wants me.”
Chen said she wants the Judson distance learning program to stand out and to be the finest quality possible. She dreams of the program going international.
“Technology has changed the way we teach and the way we learn,” she said. “It can help us share ideas with people around the world and learn from them.”
(JC)
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