Cornell College instructors injured during China visit return to family or resume travel

Cornell College instructors stabbed during a teaching trip to China, are back with family or moving forward from the incident, the college said in a statement Tuesday.

Cornell College President Jonathan Brand said in the update to campus that the four instructors have either been reunited with family or are continuing with their summer travel plans after being injured in a “serious incident” in a Jilin City public park last week.

The instructors were teaching at Beihua University as part of a partnership with Cornell College.

People and organizations both in the U.S. and China aided in getting the instructors the care they needed, Brand said. He said he has been reminded about how the “extended Cornell College community” cares for each other.

“We appreciate the support from our colleagues at Beihua University, and we have thanked our state and federal legislators as well as the Department of State for their efforts to assist our instructors and their families,” Brand said in the update.

The June 10 incident occurred while the instructors were visiting the park near the university, accompanied by a colleague from Beihua. A man bumped into one of them, then allegedly stabbed that individual and the three other instructors.

One of the instructors involved in the incident was David Zabner, state Rep. Adam Zabner’s brother. A Ph.D. candidate at Tufts University, David Zabner was wounded in the arm. The names of the other instructors have not been released.

According to Adam Zabner’s social media, his brother returned to Iowa late last week. He said in a statement that the U.S. State Department and U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, as well as the offices of Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, were helpful during his brother’s treatment and in efforts to bring him home,

Cornell College has partnered with Beihua University since 2018 to bring instructors from Mount Vernon to Jilin City to teach for two-week periods.

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