Second complaint, 2006

July 3, 2006
Dr. David F. Bell
Associate Dean of Graduate School
Dr. Jacqueline Looney
Associate Dean for Graduate Student
Affairs and Associate Vice Provost
for Academic Diversity

Dear Dr. Bell and Dr. Looney,

This letter serves as my formal response to the final decision of discontinuing my study at Duke University that the DGS of History Department, John Thompson, officially announced to me on June 27, 2006. It is also my formal complaint of harassment, exploitation, humiliation, discrimination, and lack of academic support and professional training I have been suffering over three years in the History Department as an international female student.

When Mr. Thompson made his announcement, he refused to listen to my words and disregarded my rights to due process. He asserted in an arrogant way that he would not make any change to the decision, and even suggested I leave for China as soon as possible. Mr. Thompson’s arrogance and disparagement are not an accidental story but the tip of the iceberg.

The ugly academic story started with my complaint to the History Department against my former advisor Sucheta Mazumdar last May (Please review the dossier I submitted to Dr. DeNeef, Associate Dean of Graduate School at that time). The solution of the History Department to my complaint was imposing on me a probationary period of 10 months which is virtually a punishment to my complaint, not to mention those demanding and discriminatory terms in the letter (Please refer to the probationary letter for details). In strong disagreement with the department, I filed my petition to Associate Dean of Graduate School in July of 2005, requesting that the probationary letter be repealed and an investigation be conducted. The Graduate School’s solution to my case is that I constitute a faculty committee with a new dissertation advisor to continue my program with the assistance of Alex Roland, Associate Chair of History Department. As an international student who wants to complete her program at Duke University, I accepted the Graduate School’s solution with gratitude for Dr. DeNeef’s intervention.

Having contacted many professors and overcome numerous obstacles since July of 2005, I eventually constituted my advising committee on December 24, 2005. During this process, Professor Alex Roland who supervised the entire constitution indicated his reluctance to have one Chinese-American professor, with whom I share the same interest in my dissertation project, on my committee; therefore, I had to wait until the end of 2005 when two other professors with different interests of research agreed to be on new committee. The difficulty in constituting the committee is unimaginable; yet I met the expectation the Graduate School set for my case. In February of 2005, I won an APSI research grant for my dissertation project. Every sign showed that my program was back on normal track.

Yet, behind those seemingly good signs is the lack of academic support I should have as a student. The only meeting at which I could speak to the committee was held on January 11, 2006, two committee members attending the meeting including Professor Roland himself. Since then, the only way I could have academic advice was via emails. In the entire spring semester of 2006, although I tried hard to seek advice on my research, there was only one professor sending feedbacks via emails. When I spoke to Professor Roland in mid April of 2006 about the difficulty of seeking advice from the committee members, he showed me the probationary letter and said in an overwhelming tone that it was my responsibility to meet the requirements. I went all out to get professional training I deserve here but has still been left alone. I submitted a 70-page thesis to Professor Roland on April 30 as the probationary letter required. Neither feedback nor other news on my program was ever sent to me until on June 27 when the DGS of History Department forced me to accept their final decision of discontinuing my program at Duke University. Looking back to the whole process, I am convinced that the so-called probation turns out to be a tricky game plan from the very beginning, which works to obstruct rather than facilitate my academic research at Duke University.

The most frustrating parts in my case are, as an international student who cherished the pursuit of academic achievement at this prestigious university, I was forced to become a cheap and even unpaid labor by Sucheta Mazumdar at the expense of my time for academic training and research; as an disadvantaged Chinese student who struggled for a way out of the discrimination and humiliation, I was obliged to accept an unfair probationary period as a solution as well as a showcase of “academic freedom” and “fairness” in the department; as a student who takes into serious account professional training and advice in history, I can rarely find such support either from my former advisor or the new advising committee; as a female, I have to be subject to the power of male professors and suffer from their attitude of arrogance and rudeness.

Given the situation I briefed, I request that the Graduate School initiate a second full-scale investigation of my complaint against my former advisor Sucheta Mazumdar, that the History Department officially repeal the discriminatory probationary letter, and that the DGS make a written apology for his insulting attitude on June 27, 2006. I do not accept the preposterous decision of discontinuing my program the Department of History recently imposed on me and want back my rights of pursuing academic achievement I deserve at Duke University.

I appreciate your time and support and look forward to cooperating with you to facilitate the investigation process.

Sincerely,

Zihui Tang
Graduate Student
Department of History

Appendix
Chronicle from Summer 2005 to Spring 2006 with correspondences
CC: Dr. Richard Brodhead
President of Duke University