Zihui's overview on July 31, 2006

I am Zihui Tang, a female student from China, and received my M.A. in history from Nankai University where I was awarded scholarships & fellowships. Before coming to Duke University, I was respectively employed by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and Rosenberger Asia Pacific Electronic Co., Ltd. and received awards of excellence for my performance.

In 2003 I was awarded five-year funding to commence my doctoral program in Modern Chinese History at Duke University. In spite of the exploitation, humiliation, discrimination, and lack of professional academic advising from my former advisor, Sucheta Mazumdar, I have maintained a 3.58 GPA .and in Feb. 2006 I was awarded the maximum grant from Duke’s Asian Pacific Studies Institute for my doctoral research. Professor Mazumdar required me to work on her private efforts and my complaints, about her unjust behavior triggered a battle between the tenured professor and the PhD student.

During 2003-2005 while I worked with Prof. Mazumdar, she failed to give me professional academic counseling, disregarded my research interests and violated my academic freedom. Situation was exacerbated when she, against school policy, squeezed out my time for academic research to work on her private assignments. My protests resulted in her declaring I have Premenstrual Syndrome and forced me to see Duke psychiatrist Dr. Joe Talley. She also claimed that Chinese students have educational insufficiencies.

After reporting Prof.Mazumdar’s misconducts to the History Department in May 2005 I was placed on a 10-month probationary period for “poor academic performance”. In strong disagreement with this “probation,” I filed my first petition to the Graduate School of Duke University. The story is long & ugly and I have extensive files for your review.
In April 2006 I submitted my 70-page research thesis for committee’s feedback per school policy. Against school policy, I never received any feedback on either my thesis or my program. My original schedule (known to History Dept) had me departing USA for China on June 26 for my doctoral research trip. I was not able to get a flight (detail History Dept did not know) until July 3, 2006 and on June 27, 2006 I went to the History Department for visa reapplication documents. At this time Duke’s History Department announced the discontinuation of my studies at Duke University. Had I left, as expected, on June 26, 2006 I would not be able to return to the USA & fight for my rights. Needless to say they were shocked to see me on June 27, 2006.

With regard to both misconducts and unfairness I have gone through over past three years, I filed a second complaint to the Graduate School of Duke University on July 7, 2006.. I request that the Graduate School hold a full investigation into my former advisor Sucheta Mazumdar’s misconducts (humiliation, discrimination, harassment, exploitation, and lack of professional academic advising), and that they give me the opportunity to complete my doctoral program at Duke University. I had a meeting with David F. Bell, Associate Dean of Duke’s Graduate School on July 24. Dr. Bell sent me his response on July 31, in which he glosses over the issues I raised in my files and reiterates the decision of the History Department.