[lg policy] California: President of Kaplan College Campus Is Fired Over 'English Only' Dispute

[Harold Schiffman]

President of Kaplan College Campus Is Fired Over 'English Only' Dispute
By Katherine Mangan

The president of Kaplan College's campus in Chula Vista, Calif., was
fired this month over his handling of an incident in which students
were told they could face academic sanctions if they spoke Spanish in
class, according to sources involved with the case. Dennis Manzo had
been president since the campus, located just seven miles from the
Mexican border, opened in December. All calls to the campus were
referred to Ron Iori, spokesman for the college's for-profit corporate
parent, Kaplan Higher Education, in Chicago. He would not confirm that
the president had been fired, or provide information on how to reach
him, but he said Mr. Manzo is no longer working for Kaplan. "We all
agreed that it was best if we parted ways," he said.

Angel Roman, now president of Kaplan's Beaumont, Tex., campus, will
take over as president of the Chula Vista campus this week. Jonathan
Cedeño, the student whose complaint triggered the investigation that
led to the president's dismissal, said an Anglo woman in his
medical-assistant course had been complaining that he and his friends,
who started the class after she did, weren't keeping up. "She had been
giving us a hard time and insulted me in front of the class, and we
had had enough, so we were talking about her," he said. The
conversation took place on May 3 during a break in the class, he said.
After the class, "she complained to the president that we were talking
about her in Spanish and that she didn't understand what we were
saying," Mr. Cedeño said.

He said Patricia Dussett, program director for allied health, came in
to two of his classes the following day and told students that campus
policy forbade the use of any language other than English in class,
even in side conversations. "I told her I didn't think that was fair
and that that violated my rights," Mr. Cedeño said. He said Ms.
Dussett responded that if he continued speaking in Spanish, his grades
could suffer and he could face other academic sanctions, including
expulsion.

A Relative's Intervention

Mr. Cedeño e-mailed his aunt, Leticia Maldonado, a college-programs
coordinator at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Ms.
Maldonado, who has been involved in campus diversity issues, e-mailed
Kaplan administrators demanding an immediate conference call with the
president and any other officials involved in the incident, she said
in an interview on Friday. Kaplan was sending a troubling message to
its multicultural student body, she wrote in the e-mail, and creating
doubts about its commitment to provide students "with the tools to
become engaged citizens in the diverse communities that California has
to offer." She threatened to contact the news media and parents of
Chula Vista students, and to seek legal advice if the matter was not
resolved.

Within the week, Ms. Maldonado said, administrators and college
lawyers had apologized to students and the president had been
dismissed. None of the administrators e-mailed at Kaplan's Chula Vista
campus over the weekend responded.  Mr. Iori, the corporate spokesman,
said he could not discuss the incident or allow a reporter to talk to
other campus officials, but he clarified the college's language
policy, which he said had been misstated to students. "Our policy is
that instruction is in English but conversations can take place in any
language. We don't discipline students for speaking other languages in
class."

Ms. Maldonado said she flew from Santa Cruz to San Diego to meet with
campus administrators because she was not convinced they were taking
the matter seriously enough. She said she believed that Ms. Dussett
was following the directions of the president when she addressed her
nephew's class.

A Question of Professionalism

Ms. Maldonado said that while the president never said he favored
academic sanctions against students who converse in Spanish, he told
her that he wanted to make sure that students were held to the highest
levels of professionalism and that having a side conversation in
Spanish was unprofessional. "I was outraged that he would make a
correlation between being bilingual and being unprofessional," she
said. Ms. Maldonado contacted one of her former instructors at the
University of California at San Diego, Patrick Velasquez, who also
served as co-chair of the San Diego Chicano/Latino Concilio, a
coalition of alumni, faculty and staff members, and students from
higher-education institutions in San Diego County. The group wrote a
letter to Kaplan officials saying that threatening students who speak
Spanish on campus was "unethical, insensitive, and smacks of blatant
racism."

Officials at a handful of other border campuses said they did not have
English-only policies The National Association of College and
University Attorneys referred calls to James F. Shekleton, general
counsel for the South Dakota Board of Regents. He said he would be
surprised if other colleges banned the speaking of Spanish on their
campuses. "Language can both facilitate and obstruct communication.
It's very central to people's dignity and sense of self-worth," he
said. "If you start legislating language, you're going to end up with
a mess."

Comments:

What is next? Another revolution? If the language of instruction is
English, then students raise their hand and wait to be called upon. If
called upon, they MUST respond in English. If any student is having a
private conversation in any language during the professor's lecture
he/she may be asked to leave the room. It is consider rude in EVERY
culture to speak in a foreign language while in the presence of a
person who does not speak that language. The students are rude and the
national lynch mob that rallied around these students are inciting a
riot for their own personal gain.


2. eelalien - June 01, 2010 at 06:34 am

Kaplan is a for-profit, PRIVATE college, is it not? If they are not
accepting any federal or state funds, they can pretty much set any
rules they want - including discriminatory practices based on
religion, gender, or sexual preferences, as evidenced in much
higher-profile incidents. Besides all that, the students were rude and
demonstrated unprofessional behavior in class, whatever language was
spoken. In most universities, such conduct is targeted in syllabi as
well as program and department level guidelines and policies. But
Kaplan is FOR-PROFIT - so why should they start imposing higher
academic standards just because their competitor publicly-funded
institutions do so...? If the bottom line is solely the money, well
then, hey - tolerate whatever behavior so long as the over-priced
tuition is paid.

3. bphil - June 01, 2010 at 06:38 am

The last time I remember being told it was rude to speak in a foreign
language while in the presence of a person who does not speak that
language was on a street in Paris by a frenchman who did not want to
tell me how to find the Louvre. That I was standing next to the Louvre
is not immaterial.

The point is that I have no idea where you get your anthropological
apercu. It is often not only not rude but necessary to speak a foreign
language (English, for example) in the presence of a person who does
not speak that language. I've done it all my life.

I support these students and Ms. Maldonado, but I do not "rally"
around them. I support them because they are right: speaking a
language--any language--should not alone be cause for sanction. If
rudeness were the issue here, the president would have stopped by the
class the next day to give a lecture on rudeness and to threaten
sanctions for being rude. He did not. He instead said that speaking in
a language other than English was cause for sanction. Unbelievable.

4. mrmars - June 01, 2010 at 06:59 am

There are many points in this decidedly trivial controversy where it
might have been handled in a more appropriate manner, such that the
various parties could have been satisfied without it becoming yet
another example of PC oversensitivity going nuclear. The original
point of whether the offended parties were or were not slowing down
the class becomes a non-issue, as does the right of a professor to
exert some degree of class room management, while a well-connected
off-campus individual turns the issue into one of racist
insensitivity, and an otherwise competent individual (there was no
information offered to the contrary) loses his job.

And we wonder why so many today view academia with scorn, and why we
have so much trouble convincing the tax-paying public that the high
costs of higher education are justified. The fact that this particular
tragic comedy played out in a for-profit setting matters little; there
are plenty of similar examples one could site within the sphere of
publicly-funded higher education as well. As long as we continue to
allow the PC tail to wag the dog, the fight to have the difficulties
of present-day academia taken seriously by the general public will
continue to be a hard sell.

5. bdbailey - June 01, 2010 at 07:42 am

#1, You are assuming that the unhappy Anglo lady who made the
accusations is telling the truth.

#2, For profit private colleges depend hevily on federal financial aid.

Side conversations in class (regardless of language), should not be
tolerated. Conversations in the hall, between students are...between
students.

6. juanitamwoods - June 01, 2010 at 07:53 am

For-profit institution or not, this is by far one of the dumbest
responses by a university administrator that I have ever heard.
According to the article "The conversation took place on May 3 during
a break in the class" and NOT during class. Therefore, the students
were not being rude because they were speaking among themselves. The
person least competent in this drama was the professor who obviously
does not have the skills to work within a multi-cultural setting. The
next dumbest person was the program director for allied health,
Patricia Dussett, when she announced that "campus policy forbade the
use of any language other than English in class, even in side
conversations. " If I had been a student, I would have asked to see
the policy in writing. So Dussett beomes the "water girl" of the
president, neither of whom exhibiting knowledge about the
institutional policy. In the end, not worth but firing but apologies
all around "big time" were in order. And yes, the student was correct
in calling his aunt because there was no way he would get a reprieve
when it is with the President's blessing that Dussett iterated such a
wrong, dumb policy.

7. kamoshika - June 01, 2010 at 08:26 am

A few points:

Tens of thousands of classes are being conducted today with
English-only rules in their syllabi. They are called English as a
Second Language classes. However, most ESL teachers -unless involved
in high-stakes immersion programs - would consider it impractical,
insensitive, and even counter-productive to enforce such rules on
breaks, when by definition students should relax and be free to
associate with who they wish to and speak with them in any manner they
are comfortable with. For class time, students can and should be told
in syllabi that using a first language another student may not share
can exclude and isolate that student - and will slow down learning
English for everyone. As was pointed out, disruptive side
conversations in any language should not be tolerated.

What prompted this university policy? Is the percentage of Kaplan's
Spanish -speaking students so high as to leave students like the
disgruntled "Anglo" here an uncomfortable minority? Given Kaplan's
location on the front lines of the Hispanic invasion, the English-only
policy may be a well-intentioned if naive effort to help them
assimilate. I would suggest another, more profitable direction for
Kaplan: Lead the way and open Spanish-only campuses, no doubt to the
cheers of "diversity" advocates.

Dumb question, but how did this woman know what the Spanish-speakers
were saying about her if she did not understand Spanish? They might
have been saying something highly complimentary.

People may feel less left out when languages they don't understand are
used if a) they understand the situation requires it b) the speakers
excuse themselves before proceeding. (A good example of this is the
restaurant scene in Godfather I.)

Speaking of cross-cultural rudeness: Thanks for the comic relief, and
vive the legendary rude Frenchman! May he be force-fed Freedom Fries
until his beret pops off!



8. cdburns123 - June 01, 2010 at 08:30 am

Once again students show disrespect and once again, when corrected, it
is called racism. Personally, I wouldn't care what the 'kids' were
talking about. Obviously they would rather talk and laugh about an
instructor than to do their work.
Why would I care if they liked me or not. I am not here to be liked.
President 'let go' because of this is ridiculous.

9. nominalize - June 01, 2010 at 08:47 am

Punishing students for speaking their native language, even outside of
instruction, has a long history in this country. For decades, it was
official U.S. policy to corporally punish Native American children who
dared to speak their native language in class. Deept down, it's not a
language issue, it's a power issue-- one that shows deep ignorance
about how language actually works. It is a black mark on the history
of our country, and it would be a further black mark to see it rear
its ugly head again.

This whole incident stems from an insecure and paranoid teacher trying
to silence any criticism of her. Schools aren't like a poker table,
where secret conversations are verboten. As for unprofessional... if
you're in negotiations with a Chinese firm, and they deliberate
amongst themselves in Chinese, are you going to call them
unprofessional?

10. sweetbitterbeast - June 01, 2010 at 09:04 am

If the Spanish speaking students were being rude then so was the Anglo student.

"an Anglo woman in his medical-assistant course had been complaining
that he and his friends, who started the class after she did, weren't
keeping up."

She also apparently insulted them in front of the class. I'd say that
what she did was about as rude AND as disruptive to the class as
holding a conversation in a foreign language in front of someone who
doesn't know the language. Not to mention that their conversation took
place while the class was ON BREAK so it was not really a distraction
to the class. It seems absurd to me to even complain that their
speaking in a foreign language in the presence of someone who only
speaks English is rude. To say that they should not be able to use
their first language during their own time is ridiculous and does seem
pretty racist to me. The situation, which was rather petty, should not
have been handled the way that it was. Also, I wonder why the Anglo
woman's rudeness was not reprimanded by the professor?

11. jch942 - June 01, 2010 at 09:14 am

How many of you anti-pc'ers even read the article? Talk about
knee-jerk reactions.

Why are you criticizing the instructor? The instructor is never
mentioned in the article. The dispute was between two students. Then
an administrator came into classes the next day.

The instructor didn't reprimand anyone because it occurred during a
break in the class.

I feel like these comments were hijacked by Drudge report
readers...did he link this article?

Banning the speaking of a language other than English on a college
campus... it amazes me that some of you are arguing for that. We are
moving backward as a nation.

12. leethomas14 - June 01, 2010 at 09:19 am

Thank you Ms. Maldonado for taking serious action on linguistic
racism. It's crucial that all of our students learn to function in
bi-and multilingual situations, they will be doing so for the rest of
their lives if they are successful in their careers. I am surprised
that Kaplan hired a monolingual to teach in that setting. It reminds
me of colonial times. The famous linguist, Joshua Fishman pointed out
years ago that the type of behavior demonstrated by the teacher in
this incident can only lead to division within a society ... and
ultimately violence between two competing groups. One only needs to
follow James Crawford's website to see some of the outcomes of English
Only laws.

13. lcrandal - June 01, 2010 at 09:21 am

eelailien - I think if you will check the law you will find that the
Civil Rights Act restricts the right of private enterprise to
discriminate. (You might have noticed that restaurants and motels are
no longer allowed to have "white clentele only" signs.) I guess you
and Rand Paul are among the last Americans who are unaware of this!

14. ucscareer - June 01, 2010 at 09:23 am

#11: Amen.

15. jffoster - June 01, 2010 at 09:32 am

"Your_Rights" in (1) writes, among other things I largely agree with,
this which I do not.

"It is consider rude in EVERY culture to speak in a foreign language
while in the presence of a person who does not speak that language."

The ethnographic facts do not support this. If it were in fact true,
much anthropological ethnographic field work could simply not have
been done, and until the ethnographer living with the people learned
the language, they would have had to remain silent. But if they
remained silent, the ethnographer could not have learned the language.

But it is not even true in all societies where nearly everybody
speaking the native language also speaks the foreign one most likely
spoken by those who don't speak the native one. In Wales nearly
everybody speaks English but in primarily Welsh speaking areas, if a
you are a monolingual anglophone and you come into a shop, or say, the
post office, they will deal with you politely in English. But
conversations with each other in Welsh will not suddenly switch to
English. This bothers some Englishmen but it is not considered rude in
Wales. Indeed, it is considered rude and unreasonable that the Sais,
'Englishman', should expect that Welsh should suddenly cease because
the Sais happens to be present. That's one of the reasons that Welsh,
alone among the Celtic languages, isn't dying but is very much alive.

http://chronicle.com/article/President-of-Kaplan-College/65731/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

-- 
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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