The University of Illinois has one of the largest international student populations from China in the United States. An US-based journalist recently headlined it as the "University of China at Illinois" and the sobriquet has caught fire in China. Actually

the university has a long history of connection and engagement with China that stretches back to 1908–1909

at a time when the United States was not yet a significant global power in the Pacific. This essay looks at the dreams

hopes

and problems in this long history in the changing context of U.S.-China relations

which involved using American education to shape the hearts and minds of young Chinese before the idea of "soft power" became popular.