"Sonya Tolpova" and Graduate Student Abuse at UCLA

[Ron Vroon]

Dear SEELANGS Subscribers:



On Tuesday, April 25, this list-serve posted a letter by one "Sonya Tolpova"
whose purpose was to "alert you to the existence of a website detailing the
abuse of graduate students in the UCLA Department of Slavic Languages and
Literatures and the subsequent attempts by faculty members and the UCLA
Administration to minimize and cover up this abuse." Readers should be aware
that no "Sonya Tolpova" was ever enrolled in the UCLA Slavic Department. A
different version of this same message, using an anonymous sender address,
was also sent to UCLA faculty, regents, legislators, Slavic departments and
perhaps other parties as well. In other words, both the letter and the
website amount to what in the Soviet Union were called anonimki. The
author's reason for masking his or her identity is clearly to avoid
liability should the contents of the posted messages and website be
determined actionable for libel or some other cause. They should be read, if
at all, for what they are: anonymous denunciations whose contents are no
more trustworthy than the fictitious name under which they are broadcast.



Screeds of this sort, by virtue of their anonymity, merit no response, but
since some readers may have innocently assumed that the author was speaking
in her own name,  I feel compelled to respond in my capacity as Chair of the
department that has been targeted by this unfortunate individual.



In 1999-2000 the UCLA Slavic Department underwent a regularly scheduled
eighth-year review. At the time the Administration came to the conclusion,
based on interviews with students, that two of its fourteen faculty members
(ten professors and four lecturers) had acted abusively toward students;
that their colleagues had been complacent about these abuses; and that these
problems needed to be addressed immediately. The University's Graduate
Council suspended admissions in June 2000 and instructed the Department to
present  a plan insuring the cessation of abusive conduct and the promotion
of a positive learning environment. Prof. Michael Heim, then Chair of the
Department, had the mandate of putting together this package of reforms in
consultation with faculty and students. He carried out this task with
diligence and honor. No student was compelled to participate in the process,
and those who did had the option of submitting their comments anonymously.
No recrimination of any sort was taken against those who chose to
participate or those who chose not to.  The Graduate Council, satisfied that
the reforms adopted on the basis of these consultations redressed students'
grievances, reinstated the Department's right to admit graduate students six
months later, in December 2000.



To speak of a "cover-up" here defies credibility. The Administration
insisted on a second review in 2002 and a third in 2005, though the normal
interval between reviews is eight years.  Their explicit purpose was to
monitor progress in the Department, and they were conducted with the full
cooperation of faculty, students and staff.



That the reforms adopted after the events of 1999-2000 review dramatically
improved the situation in the Department  is clear from the review conducted
this past January. As in 2000, it was a "full" review involving external
consultants (from the University of Michigan and Princeton University), four
internal reviewers from other departments and schools at UCLA, and a student
officially representing UCLA's Graduate Student Association. A detailed
self-review was vetted by the graduate students and voted on by the faculty
and graduate student representative. During the "site visit" everyone who
wished was given the opportunity to speak privately with review team
members. One cannot, in short, imagine a more thorough review. Let me cite
briefly from two documents that make up the final report. The first is from
the assessment drawn by Prof. Ellen Chances of Princeton University (cited
here with her permission). She writes, "The recent history of the Department
of Slavic Languages and Literatures at UCLA, since the devastating internal
review report of the year 2000, is, without exaggeration, a phenomenal
success story. We all know instances of college and university
 departments - in all fields - with toxic energy, whose toxic energy remains
fixed in place, no matter what, throughout years and decades. The UCLA
Slavic Department has accomplished an extraordinary feat. It has shifted the
atmosphere from negative to positive in a matter of a very few years. It has
done so by facing its problems. It has  done so by very hard work on the
part of former chair Professor Michael Heim, current chair Professor Ronald
Vroon, and the collective efforts of the faculty and graduate students. . .
. This department, as I said at the beginning of my report, has done an
extraordinary job of reversing a downward spiral, and of turning the
department into a success story. It should be given the resources it so
richly deserves in order to maintain its high standing as one of the finest
Slavic departments in the nation."



My second citation is from the primary report of the Review Committee. It
concludes: "Since the 1999-2000 Academic Senate Review the Department of
Slavic Languages and Literatures has turned itself around. Under the
direction of the current chair, it has made remarkable progress in the areas
of student welfare, curricular reform and departmental culture. It continues
to be vigilant in these areas. The progress justifies confidence in the
department's ability to increase its strengths in literature, to rebuild its
linguistics program, and to develop an undergraduate minor program [in East
Central European Studies]. These developments will only further enhance the
department's national and international standing."



How can we account for the appearance in April, 2005 of mass electronic
mailings and a website "exposing" events that took place almost five years
ago? My most charitable explanation is that author is simply unaware of the
changes that have taken place in the Department, and is nursing old grudges.
I suspect, however, that the postings were timed to coincide with the
closure of the current review and minimize its positive impact by sullying
the reputation of the Department, both faculty and students. I am confident
that this will not happen, precisely because of the transformation that the
Department has undergone. As proof let me cite one additional piece of
evidence. After the "Tolpova" materials were posted at UCLA on April 20, the
Graduate Student Association, unbeknownst to faculty,  set up a special
mechanism enabling any students to comment privately and anonymously on
them. All comments received were positive and supportive of the Department.



Let me conclude by addressing a few words to the same audience that the
Tolpova posting addresses at its conclusion: students interested in applying
to UCLA and advisors who make recommendations about programs to such
students. Visit the UCLA Slavic Department web site or, even better, get in
contact with faculty and graduate students: they would be happy to speak to
you and tell you what life is like here, both intellectually and socially.
You will discover that the Department is indeed one of the finest Slavic
Departments in the nation, as one of our external reports has concluded. The
range and depth of expertise of its faculty is unparalleled. It offers a
challenging program of study with a wide range of options for
specialization. It continues to excel in placing students in colleges and
universities across the nation. Above all, you will find here a congenial
faculty deeply committed to providing an optimal learning environment and
the best possible education for students in Slavic studies.



Sincerely,



Ronald Vroon

Chair, UCLA Dept. of Slavic Languages & Literatures

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