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杜克大学禁止大声说中文?该校涉事教授已辞去主任职务

当地时间周五,美国杜克大学生物统计系的助理教授梅根·尼利(Megan Neely)向全系学生发了一封邮件,因涉嫌种族歧视引发关注。


一起来看这封信原文:



邮件中说:有两位教职员工分别找到她,称他们在教学区看到两名中国学生“大声说中文”,想要知道他们的名字,好在之后拒绝这两名学生的实习或项目申请。


Both faculty members picked out a small group of first-year students who they observed speaking Chinese (in their words, VERY LOUDLY) in the student lounge/study areas.

两个教职员工指出了几个一年级的中国学生,表示曾看到过他们在休息区说中文(据说讲得非常大声)。


I asked why they were curious about the students' names. 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. 

我问他们为什么好奇这几名学生的名字,这两个教职员工都说,他们想要记下这些名字,好在之后的实习面试或者硕士项目申请中拒绝他们。


这两位教职员工对这些学生表示很失望:


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. 

两位教职员工认为他们没有抓紧机会练习英语,而且用别人几乎都听不懂的语言大声交流,是非常不懂礼貌的。


尼利在邮件中劝诫


To international students, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak in Chinese in the building.

对于国际学生而言,一定一定一定要注意在教学楼中无意说中文可能带来的后果


此外,尼利还表示,希望学生能够抓住机会提高英文水平。


杜克大学 资料图


当地时间周六下午,该系所属学院,医学院院长向学生发信致歉,称助理教授尼利已辞去主任职务,澄清杜克大学不会限制学生沟通的语言,也不会因为用什么语言而影响学生的职业发展。


道歉信中写道:


Your career opportunities and recommendations will not in any way be influenced by the language you use outside the classroom. And your privacy will always be protected.

你们的职业机会和推荐机会都不会受到在教室外使用语言的影响,你们的隐私也一定会受到保护。


In addition, Dr. Neely has asked to step down as director of graduate studies for the master's program effective immediately and will be replaced by an interim DGS to be named shortly.

另外,尼利博士已经辞去研究生硕士项目主任职务,立即生效,我们将另任他人。


据该校知情人士透露,杜克大学已安排该系教师与三名中国学生代表在周日中午面谈讨论该事。



杜克是美国南方最好的私立学校,而类似的“邮件事件”已经不是第一次发生。


尼利在18年2月的邮件里就因为“很多老师都注意到国际学生在系里的休息室(Break Room)都不说英语”而给学生发过类似邮件:


"I don't like being the language police, but I have gotten these comments enough times in the past few weeks that I feel like I should share them with you."

我不想成为一个语言警察,但是过去几周收到了足够多相似的评论,我觉得需要和你们大伙儿说一下。


"...speaking in your native language in the department may give faculty the impression that you are not trying to improve your English skills and that you are not taking this opportunity seriously."

说母语可能会给教授一个“你没有努力提高英语、也不重视现有机会”的印象。


"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.”

后果就是教授们会更不愿意招国际学生,在生物统计学里面,沟通技能很重要。


这次事件后,学生们迅速的反应也很得体。


杜克法学院的学生马上起草了请愿书,与学校有一定联系的学生主动找相关部门投诉。这是事件得到快速处理的重要原因之一。


有网友在知乎上表达自己对此事的意见,称:


选择保持自己的文化身份认同或者是选择融入新的环境,这只是两种不一样的选择,并没有高下之分。每个人应该都有权利选择适合自己但不影响它人的生活方式,每个选择都是值得受到尊重的。强迫它人接受不合适的生活方式,非常不礼貌。



而一些网友则认为,尼利的邮件似乎并没有种族歧视的恶意,提醒学生不要大声说话,保持礼貌,督促学生练习英文也无可厚非,反而是那两位指出学生们大声讲中文的教职员工的行为更有争议。



你们怎么看?欢迎留言。


编辑:胡雨濛 李雪晴

记者:高天沛



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