An Open Letter to Duke Community Apr 14th, 2008

活动讯息 | Events n News   April 14, 2008 at 12:00 amDCSSA2009

An Open Letter to Duke Community
Apr 14th, 2008

After last Wednesday’s high profile protest on Duke campus, a few subscribers to the mailing list China@duke.edu anonymously sent out messages verbally attacking one student using language we found troubling and heinous, as well as releasing this student’s private information. This mailing list was set up mainly for the purpose of helping students exchange information such as second-hand car or apartment sublease. It is open to the public, not limited only to Chinese students and scholars at Duke, for subscription and currently has more than 900 registered users, and like many other mailing list of this kind, we do not have a dedicated member to monitor it closely on a daily basis. However, we removed all the relevant messages once they were brought to our attention. Duke Chinese Students and Scholars Association (DCSSA) hereby declares our unequivocal position that we strongly disagree and condemn the behavior of these few anonymous subscribers.

However, we are very disappointed by the story “Student gets threats after China protest” appearing on today’s Chronicle (Apr 14th, 2008). We feel regretful that this student considered it was DCSSA’s fault to release “all kinds of information” about her, and several other student organizations on campus blamed DCSSA for actions taken by certain subscribers to our mailing list, which, for the reasons stated above, we have to disagree with. We are sympathetic to this student’s situation, and as the representatives of DCSSA, we will try to contact this student to resolve any misunderstandings.

As one of the largest student groups on campus, DCSSA is an organization dedicated to promoting diversity on Duke Campus. We are always proud to bring the culture from China―our home country which has a glorious history of more than 5,000 years, to the Gothic Wonderland which we also call home. We hope that by learning from each other, we can work towards an even brighter future. We appreciate the increasing attention on China recently received from the Duke Community. In light of the recent events on and off campus, we welcome your constructive comments and healthy reflections on a wide range of topics, including the impartiality of media, freedom of speech, and effectiveness of cross-cultural communication. Please feel free to send us your email to: dcssa2008@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Zhizhong Li, DCSSA President
Weina Wang, DCSSA Vice President
Weining Bian, DCSSA Vice President