Mind your language, professors

Duke University used to be a dream school for many Chinese students. Not anymore, after Megan Neely, an assistant professor, sent an email to all first-and second-year biostatistics graduate students recently telling them to "commit to using English 100 percent of the time".

In the email, Neely, who resigned as director of graduate studies in the biostatistics department, said that two faculty members had complained to her about two students "speaking Chinese... very loudly" in the student lounge and study areas. "Both faculty members ... 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," she continued.

If the implication wasn't clear enough, Neely spelled it out in the next paragraph: "To international students, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak in Chinese in the building.. That being said, I encourage you to commit to using English 100 percent of the time when you are in Hock or any other professional setting."