The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt Hustler

The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University.
Since 1888
The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt Hustler

The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University.
The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt Hustler

The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University.

Letter to the Editor: What hinders Vanderbilt from becoming a world-class institution?

A response to VPR’s April op-ed “What Do We Gain from Allowing Chinese Espionage?”
Kirkland+Hall+is+home+to+Vanderbilt+administration.+%28Former+Hustler+Multimedia%2FEmily+Gon%C3%A7alves%29
Kirkland Hall is home to Vanderbilt administration. (Former Hustler Multimedia/Emily Gonçalves)

I didn’t know how to respond when I initially saw an article explode on Wechat, the most popular Chinese social media. It gathered thousands views and dozens of comments. The title? “What do we gain from Chinese espionage?” It was published on Vanderbilt Political Review, a student media platform at my alma mater. I asked myself many questions. Shall I remain silent just as I was taught in China? Or, shall I speak up as I learned from my activism at Vanderbilt? Will my non-Chinese friends understand the severity of the situation? Will the university take seriously the ripple effect caused by the article? My alma mater became famous again in China, known for this article full of false accusations and stereotypes, typical of Trump’s America. A news article on this incident was viewed by 8.63 million times. In the more distant Chinese media, they don’t care whether this opinion represents the official position of the school or of one Vanderbilt student. The message was compressed: it came from Vanderbilt – people afar don’t distinguish. 

As a Vandy alum, I feel obliged to step out of my comfort zone and speak up. When my Vanderbilt classmates threw that “espionage” label to generalize all Chinese international students on campus, it was completely dehumanizing and unacceptable. It is the same to say “all Muslims are terrorists,” or “all Protestants are colonists.” I can only speak for my own feelings; but what does this article mean to hundreds of my fellow Chinese International students and alum? What does this mean for the Chinese American students? Will they be accused of being the descendants of spies? Does being American only look a certain way, which excludes being Chinese? Or not being Asian?

I care about Vanderbilt as a Chinese alum because we have a long way to go in battling the bigotry of this country.

Prior to coming to the U.S., I romanticized a country of free speech, respect and equality – just as the Constitution describes. My idealist expectation was immediately shattered upon moving to Nashville. As such, this was not my first time, nor even my hundredth time, dealing with this aggression toward my racial and cultural upbringing. I was called “the most Asian Harry Potter” by a drunk Predators fan. During my summer in D.C., I sat in a work lunch with some of the most experienced lobbyists on Capitol Hill – they asked me the most culturally insensitive questions about China. At one moment, I questioned myself: Was this the America I signed up for – full of ignorance and insensibility? 

I care about Vanderbilt as a Chinese alum because we have a long way to go in battling the bigotry of this country. Vanderbilt has given me many opportunities, from allowing me to launch my own startup to selling my first products to introducing bike-sharing at the school. The administration was open to students’ voices like mine. Before I graduated last year, Vanderbilt featured me as one of the student spotlights, sharing how I combined my passion for sustainability and entrepreneurship thousands of miles away from home. While I am grateful for the opportunities and recognition Vanderbilt provided me, Vanderbilt also forced me to learn to live as a minority in an environment lacking in inclusion. 

As I celebrated my one-year anniversary of moving to Yale for graduate school, I pondered on Vanderbilt’s fetish of becoming a world class academic institution, like Harvard or Yale. What is Vanderbilt missing that keeps it from getting there? From my perspective, it is not the federal grants or the cutting-edge research. The biggest challenge is the lack of international exposure and the resulting shallow understandings of foreign worlds among certain people on campus. 

Yale has a historic relationship with China, informally beginning in 1854. It was the first school in the U.S. to accept a Chinese international student, and the President (equal to our Chancellor) spoke up for international students amid the strong narrative against Chinese international students in STEM from the Trump administration. Conversely, it took Vanderbilt administration days to respond to this VPR article, and the university attempted to draw the line between personal opinions and official standing, saying that “viewpoints expressed in the article do not reflect those of the university.” However, regular Chinese readers may not be able to distinguish between one particular Vanderbilt student and the official school standing – that is, until the administration makes a crystal clear statement against the article. 

I hope for the best for my beloved Vanderbilt. We will see how long it takes for the administration to respond adequately.

Sincerely,

Yalun Feng

 

View comments (6)

Comments (6)

The Vanderbilt Hustler welcomes and encourages readers to engage with content and express opinions through the comment sections on our website and social media platforms. The Hustler reserves the right to remove comments that contain vulgarity, hate speech, personal attacks or that appear to be spam, commercial promotion or impersonation. The comment sections are moderated by our Editor-in-Chief, Rachael Perrotta, and our Social Media Director, Chloe Postlewaite. You can reach them at [email protected] and [email protected].
All The Vanderbilt Hustler picks Reader picks Sort: Newest
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
6 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
W
William H
4 years ago

As a Chinese international student, remember that you are different and you heart should be open to a little ache every now and then. Besides, people in Mainland China also ask silly questions to foreigners and make hurtful judgements of foreigners too.

N
Nudels
4 years ago

As a former faculty of Asian American heritage, I agree with the writer. Vanderbilt has done a lot to be more inclusive in recent years, but it still lags significantly behind other “world class” institutions. It’s not just because it is in the Deep South, where KKK founder’s bust looks out proudly in the State Capitol. Just look at Vandy’s engineering departments, for example; their senior faculty is far less diverse than top-tier programs. Importantly, compared to Vanderbilt, my current access to the Asian capital, so called “smart money investors,” has been an eye-openingly pleasant surprise. Asian capital simply bypasses Vanderbilt because it still is relatively unknown in Asia. Asians don’t care about SEC, no more than you care about soccer teams in Asia. I tell prospective students and employees that Vanderbilt is a wonderful place… if you are white. For rest of us, Vanderbilt has to try harder. For Vanderbilt to become a truly global university, with a global reach, it still has a long way to go.

R
Ram Reddy
4 years ago

dawg you sure love talking about yale

W
William Stack
4 years ago

It matters – and how Vandy responds speaks volumes and helps to define their place in world history.

Will Stack
Nashville

C
Charles Keeling
4 years ago

It appears that politics is getting in your way of reasonable thought. Vanderbilt is the exact opposite of the way that you paint them. I hope that you will realize that one day.

L
lance johnson
4 years ago

Sadly, Trump’s contentious issue is yet one more thing that makes being an international student away from home difficult, compounded by our complex culture and language problems. Welcoming and assimilation assistance must come from numerous sources, including the White House, to aid these young people embarking on life’s journey.
Most struggle in their efforts and need guidance from schools’ international departments, immigration protection, host families, concerned neighbors and fellow students, and even informative books to extend a cultural helping hand.
Something that might help anyone coming to the US is the award-winning worldwide book/ebook “What Foreigners Need To Know About America From A To Z: How to Understand Crazy American Culture, People, Government, Business, Language and More.”
Used in foreign Fulbright student programs and endorsed worldwide by ambassadors, educators, and editors, it identifies how “foreigners” have become successful in the US, including students.
It explains how to cope with a confusing new culture and friendship process, and daunting classroom differences. It explains how US businesses operate and how to get a job (which differs from most countries), a must for those who want to work with/for an American firm here or overseas.
It also identifies the most common English grammar and speech problems foreigners have and tips for easily overcoming them, the number one stumbling block they say they have to succeeding here.
Good luck to all at V or wherever you study or wherever you come from, because that is the TRUE spirit of the American PEOPLE, not a few in government who shout the loudest! Supporters of int’l students must shout louder.