Megan Neely resigned from an administrative position after sending a “discriminatory” email to Chinese students. (Photo: Duke University/Getty Images) A Duke University professor has resigned from her position as the head of a master’s program, after students complained about an email sent wrote encouraging them to speak English, rather than their native language. Students are calling for a larger investigation of the email sent by the professor, Megan Neely, PhD, to first- and second-year students of the Master of Biostatistics program in the university’s School of Medicine on Friday. The email warned students of the “unintended consequences” of choosing to speak Chinese while on campus. “Something to think about…” was the subject line of Neely’s email, which encouraged students “to commit to using English 100% of the time.” One professor from Duke University sent out an email asking Chinese students not to speak Chinese in school building. pic.twitter.com/6xGkIeScJo — Hua Sirui 华思睿 (@siruihua) January 26, 2019 Neely detailed an encounter she had with two faculty members, where she was asked to present photos of her master’s students. According to Neely’s account, the faculty members proceeded to point out a small group who were heard speaking Chinese in the student lounge areas, and wrote down the students’ names, so the professors could remember them in case one of the students asked to work with them in the future. “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,” Neely wrote in bold, underlined font. “To international students, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak in Chinese in the building.” The professor additionally copied second-year students to remind them to do the same, “given they are currently applying for jobs.” According to someone tweeting about the incident, those students had already received a similar email last year. Story continues Okay there’s another email sent in Feb 2018 https://t.co/gMtHESGrCy pic.twitter.com/kK6nidQAYY — Hua Sirui 华思睿 (@siruihua) January 26, 2019 Neither Neely nor other administrators from the School of Medicine responded to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, the dean of the school, Mary Klotman, published a letter of apology to students on Saturday, assuring them that “there is absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language you use to converse and communicate with each other.” “I have asked the university’s Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) to conduct a thorough review of the Master’s of Biostatistics Program and to recommend ways in which we can improve the learning environment for students from all backgrounds,” Klotman’s letter read, in part. “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.” Still, a group of students are petitioning for a “full-scale investigation into the actions of the two unnamed professors referenced in Dr. Neely’s email,” and the university’s adoption of a “zero tolerance policy for discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and national origin.” According to a public statement dated Jan. 27, 2,000 students had already signed the petition. An additional statement was posted on Facebook by the Asian Students Association and the Duke International Association, pointing out that Neely’s behavior was not only “hypocritical,” but also “discriminatory.” “The first description of Duke University that appears in a browser search touts its international campuses and its reputation as a ‘global university,'” the joint statement reads. “Duke should prove it.” Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: • Woman sues after university allegedly retracted job offer once it learned she was pregnant • Middle-school teacher calls Afros ‘unacceptable’ and ‘outlandish’ for choir performance • A college professor called the police on a student who allegedly put her feet up on a chair Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.<doc-sep>“To international students, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak in Chinese in the building. I have no idea how hard it has been and still is for you to come to the US and have to learn in a non-native language. As such, I have the upmost [sic] respect for what you are doing. That being said, I encourage you to commit to using English 100% of the time when you are in Hock or any other professional setting.”<doc-sep>A Duke University professor stepped down Saturday after sparking outrage for an email that encouraged her Chinese students to improve their English by committing to speaking it "100 percent of time." Megan Lee Neely, an assistant professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, reportedly emailed the students Friday in response to complaints by two of her colleagues who said they were disappointed that the students “were not taking the opportunity to improve their English,” according to screenshots of the exchange that was posted online. Neely encouraged her students to “commit to using English 100 percent of the time” on campus and professional settings and “keep these unintended consequences in mind when you chose to speak Chinese,” according to the university’s paper, The Duke Chronicle. MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT FOUND DEAD AFTER 3-DAY SEARCH: REPORT Screenshots of the email exchange made the rounds on social media and stoked outrage. Medical school dean Mary E. Klotman apologized to Neely’s students in a letter and said that Duke’s Office of Institutional Equity will investigate the incident. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "To be clear," Klotman wrote, "there is absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language you use to converse and communicate with each other. Your career opportunities and recommendations will not in any way be influenced by the language you use outside the classroom."<doc-sep>Assistant Professor Dr Megan Neely stepped down as director of graduate studies at Duke University Saturday A Duke University professor is stepping down after sending a shocking email to Chinese exchange students telling them to speak English. Dr Megan Neely stepped down as the director of graduate studies for the university's medicine department Saturday after photos of the email began circulating on social media. In the email, Neely urged the students to refrain from speaking Chinese in order to 'improve their English', suggesting that doing so may lead to 'unintended consequences'. 'I encourage you to commit to using English 100% of the time when you are in Hock or any other professional setting,' she wrote. In the email, sent to first and second year bio statistics master's students, Neely said that two separate faculty members approached her with concerns over students speaking Chinese. '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,' the email reads. '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 continued. She had sent an email to first and second year master's students suggesting the Chinese exchange students speak English '100% of the time' Neely continued by saying the faculty members asked for the names of the Chinese-speaking students to 'remember them if the students ever interviewed for an internship or asked to work with them for a master's project.' 'To international students, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak in Chinese in the building,' she said. A photo of the email was posted to Twitter Saturday morning, garnering nearly 6,000 retweets, 11,000 likes and major backlash against Neely. Petitions were immediately started online calling for her firing. By Saturday evening, a statement by Mary E Klotman, Dean of the Duke University School of Medicine, said that Neely had asked to step down. The email was posted to Twitter and quickly circulated online, leading to major backlash toward the professor Duke University offered an apology to the masters students and said a review of their master's program is underway '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,' it read. Klotman issued an apology letter to the students, adding that a thorough review of the master's program is underway. 'There is absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language you use to converse and communicate with each other,' the statement read. 'Your career opportunities and recommendations will not in any way be influenced by the language you use outside the classroom.' It appears this wasn't the first discriminatory email Neely had sent to students. An email from February 2018 stated similar concerns and cited faculty members as raising the initial concerns with her. It's unclear who the two faculty members are, or if they existed to begin with.<doc-sep>
Duke Chapel at Duke University (Wikimedia Commons) An assistant professor at Duke University has resigned amid backlash after sending an email Friday that urged students to speak “English 100% of the time” while on campus and in professional settings. Megan Lee Nealy resigned from her position as director of graduate studies for biostatistics after university administrators learned of the email she sent to first- and second-year students, in which she warned that their academic careers might suffer if they used their native languages around professors. “To international students, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak in Chinese in the building,” Neely wrote, according to screenshots of the message obtained by the New York Post. “I have no idea how hard it has been and still is for you to come to the US and have to learn in a non-native language. As such, I have the upmost [sic] respect for what you are doing.” “That being said, I encourage you to commit to using English 100% of the time when you are in Hock or any other professional building. Copying the second-year students as a reminder given they are currently applying for jobs,” she added. Neely, who will remain on as an assistant professor despite resigning from her administrative post, subsequently explained that she felt compelled to address the language issue after two professors complained to her that a group of Chinese students were speaking their native tongue “VERY LOUDLY” in a student lounge. “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,” Neely wrote of the professors. “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.” Mary Klotman, dean of the Duke University School of Medicine, apologized on Neely’s behalf and rejected her recommendation that students use English in professional and academic settings. “To be clear: there is absolutely no restriction or limitation on the language you use to converse and communicate with each other,” Klotman said in a statement obtained by the Post. “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.” The university is also looking into a separate email Neely sent last February, in which she cautioned students that using their native language might convince professors that they were not trying to improve their English. A number of Duke professors have spoken out against Neely and a group of students has circulated an online petition calling for the university to formally investigate Neely’s conduct. “As international students, we believe that the ability to speak in our native language creates a much-needed space for obtaining academic, social, and moral support from our peers,” the petition reads. “More importantly, the flexibility of choosing which language we speak is an intimate choice, one that is deeply tied to our own individual values, beliefs, and core identity.” Send a tip to the news team at NR.