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Chapel of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (iStock)
Amy B Wang
Journalist of the General Mission covering the national news and the latest news
"You have to think …", we read in the subject.
The sender was Megan Neely, an assistant professor at Duke, and then director of graduate studies at the Department of Biostatistics, the message was aimed at all undergraduate and graduate students in biostatistics at the university from North Carolina.
Neely stated in the email that two faculty members had visited the site. her office earlier in the day, asking for images of graduate students in biostatistics, added that she could not help but wonder why they wanted to know.
According to Neely, his colleagues wanted to identify the students they had observed in Chinese (in their words, VERY HIGH), "while they were in the student room and in the study room.
"The two faculty members responded that they wanted to write the names so they could remember these names if the students invited them to work with them for a master's project," writes Neely.
Neely puts in bold and emphasizes the following part of his email: " They were disappointed that these students do not take advantage of the opportunity to improve their English. so rude as to have a conversation that not everyone could understand at the time . "
" If the implication was not clear enough, Neely encouraged students to speak only English or face invisible obstacles in the future the department – she explained in her next paragraph:
"To foreign students, PLEASE, please, keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak Chinese in the building." . I do not know how difficult and necessary it was to come to the United States and learn in a non-native language. As such, I have the greatest respect [sic] for what you do. That being said, I encourage you to commit to using English 100% of the time when you are at Hock or in any other professional setting. "
Neely closed her message by noting that she was copying the second-grade email in biostatistics." As a reminder "since they were applying for a job.
" Happy to discuss further, "Neely wrote," just stop by my desk. "
Neely's e-mail images were quickly posted on the Internet and widely shared, provoking outrage. that students were discussing with each other for what seemed to be their own time outside the classroom – and that the United States did not have an official language anyway .
] Others accused Neely and anonymous faculty members of racial discrimination, wondering if the students had been targeted because they spoke Chinese as opposed to another foreign language.
"I am an international student Let us suppose how many times I have been asked not to speak French, "wrote a user of on Twitter adding three emojis to the center of the gaze.
Mary E. Klotman, Dean of Duke University The Faculty of Medicine sent an email to all graduate students in biostatistics on Saturday to tell them that Neely had "asked to resign" as the director of graduate studies for the master's program, effective immediately, and would be replaced by an acting director.
[Two Americans were detained by a Border Patrol agent after he heard them speaking Spanish]
had asked the Duke Institutional Equity Office to conduct a thorough review of the master's program, adding a "personal commitment" that the question would be "handled quickly and tactfully".
"I understand that many of you feel hurt and angry by this message," wrote Klotman. "To be clear: there is absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language that you use to converse and communicate with each other, your career opportunities and recommendations will not be influenced by the language you use outside the classroom, and your privacy will always be protected. "
Duke spokesman Michael Schoenfeld confirmed in an email to The Washington Post that Saturday's images of Neely's email were legitimate and he also confirmed that images of an additional email from Neely who had surface, dating from February 2018, were also legitimate and under revision.
In the February 2018 message to students in biostatistics (subject of the topic "Speaking English or not Neely said that faculty members complained that foreign students did not speak English in the rest rooms of the department, although she did not specify the offending foreign language (s).
"I do not like being the font of languages, but in recent weeks, I have received these comments enough times for me to feel that I should share them with you," wrote Neely, pointing out that the most recent complaint came from the president of the department. "Beyond the obvious opportunity of English, speaking in your mother tongue in the department can give teachers the impression that you are not trying improve your English skills and you do not take this opportunity seriously
She again warned that not speaking English could have the "potential downstream effects" of not getting opportunities. of research in the program, because professors would be reluctant to hire international students.
Neither Neely nor the Department of Biostatistics The President responded to requests for comments on Sunday.
When it is asked if any action would be taken against anonymous faculty members who complained that students did not speak English, Schoenfeld, Duke's spokesperson, said the case was part of of the exam that the university would lead. .
On Sunday, the news of the hubbub was spread on Weibo, a Chinese social media site similar to Twitter, with the hashtag "The Duke University forbade talking Chinese", more than 6.7 million views on the platform, according to the south of China. Morning Post.
In the United States, a petition launched by "worried students" at Duke's urging the university to investigate emails from Neely lty members, had more than 1,900 signatures on Sunday afternoon.
"We are discouraged. . . Duke faculty members suggested that students of various national origins would be punished for academic and employment training if they spoke in their mother tongue outside the English language. classroom, "indicates the petition. "We are even more demoralized that a Duke graduate program director explicitly condones and even encourages such discriminatory practices on the part of our faculty members."
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