Duke University tutor steps down after row over ‘impolite’ Chinese students not speaking English on campus
- Director of masters’ programme slammed on social media after passing on comments from her colleagues about ‘loud’ conversation in communal lounge
- Dean of medical school tells students there is ‘absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language you use to converse or communicate with each other’
A university professor in the United States has stepped down as director of a master’s degree programme after leaked emails showed her asking Chinese students to “commit to using English” and suggesting that not doing so might harm their careers.
Screenshots of the messages sent by Megan Neely, the former director of graduate studies for a biostatistics course at Duke University in North Carolina, went viral on Twitter and its Chinese equivalent, Weibo, on Saturday as users criticised her for being xenophobic and insensitive.
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In the latest email, Neely said faculty members had complained to her after overhearing international students speaking Chinese “very loudly” in the student lounge areas.
“They were disappointed that these students were not taking the opportunity to improve their English and were being so impolite as to have a conversation that not everyone on the floor could understand,” it said.
“Both faculty members replied that they wanted to write down the names so they could remember them if the students ever interviewed for an internship or asked to work with them for a master’s project.”
Mary Klotman, dean of Duke Medical School, which oversees the biostatistics course, said in a separate email to students that Neely had stepped down as director of graduate studies for the master’s programme and that the university’s management had been asked to undertake an internal review.
“I understand that many of you felt hurt and angered by this message,” she wrote. “To be clear: there is absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language you use to converse or communicate with each other. Your career opportunities and recommendations will not in any way be influenced by the language you use outside the classroom.”
According to a report by The Chronicle, which bills itself as the university’s independent news organisation, as of Saturday evening, more than 1,000 students had signed a petition calling for an independent committee to conduct a full-scale investigation into the incident, including the actions of the unnamed faculty members.
Twitter users also shared an email titled “To Speak English or To Not Speak English …” that Neely sent to biostatistics students in February last year.
After opening with the line: “I don’t like being the language police,” she went on to say that, “Beyond the obvious opportunity to practice and perfect your English, speaking in your native language in the department may give faculty the impression that you are not trying to improve your English skills.
“As a result, they may be more hesitant to hire or work with international students because communication is such an important part of what we do as biostatisticians.
“Bottom line: Continuing this practice may make it harder for you and future international students to get research opportunities while in the program … That being said, I have tremendous respect for what the international students are doing by enrolling in a graduate program in a foreign country.”
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As of Sunday, the hashtag “Duke University bans speaking Chinese” had been read more than 6.7 million times on Weibo.
“I think this professor’s conduct might actually have been well intended, but it is those two complaining faculty staff who are the real racists,” the author of a top-rated comment said.
“Chinese international students will never know the real reason they are refused … it’s hard to say whether it was definitely racism,” said another.
Twitter users were equally critical.
“I wonder if Americans are aware they’re being impolite when they have a convo in English in Europe or China,” wrote political science researcher Chenchen Zhang. “In case you take it literally: I don’t find it impolite.”
Duke enrolled more than 1,500 international students in 2017, about 60 per cent of which were from China.
Neither the university nor Neely immediately responded to requests for comment.
