Letter to Dean of Student Affairs

Date:
Wed, 09 Jul 2003 11:17:49 -0700
To:
Huei-chen Ko
CC:
Student Affairs

Professor Ko Huei-Chen
Dean of Student Affairs
Office of Student Affairs
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan

Dear Dean Ko,

I am writing this in response to a request from your office to
write a followup email concerning the issue of a student,
Chen An-Chuen (Lily Chen) who wrote a secret letter challenging a grade
eight years after she received it.
Let me sum up the issues yet again, so we can close this case.
A student has no right to write a secret accusatory letter. The
fact that the letter was secret shows she knew she had no
right to write it. The fact that she had countless chances in the past
to file a formal complaint but refused shows she knew
the only kind of complaint that would succeed was a secret complaint,
where her word was final. The fact that officials at
our university would accredit such a complaint discredits our university
as well as the officials involved.
The rights of a student do not include the right to injure a
professor's reputation. This should be very plain, except
probably to Ms. Chen and those who accredited, accepted, and even
solicited Ms. Chen's complaint in the first place. But
all of them would almost certainly be discredited once this case is
exposed to public discussion.
I will repeat what I have been saying for months now. I do not
wish to discredit the people involved in this case more
than they have already discredited themselves. But at the same time, I
must do whatever I can to restore my reputation as a
professor at this university and in my department.
Unfortunately, this cannot be done until Ms. Chen plainly
apologizes, admits her letter was wrong, had no basis in truth,
and, indeed, was solicited, as (from what I understand) she admitted to
Vice-Dean Tsai.
This is the only compromise that I am willing to make. Ms. Chen
must be made to understand that she will either
apologize in private or risk a public judgment for her actions.
Merely the fact that Ms. Chen feels she has a choice in whether to
appear at a meeting requested by the Office of
Student Affairs shows serious problems in administrative remedy, and
even authority, at our university. Who is in control at
our university, a student or an official? When did Ms. Chen become
above administrative remedy rather than part of it?
If there is so little administrative authority at our university
that a student needs to be "persuaded" to appear at a meeting,
then somebody in a sympathetic voice should persuade her that it is best
for her if this matter is resolved privately rather than
publicly. I repeat, it is unlikely that anyone outside our university
will accredit, defend, or justify Ms. Chen's actions in
writing her secret letter. Most people would see her action for what it
was: an attempt to maliciously discredit a professor
by secret defamation.
However, if Ms. Chen cannot be made to understand that her action
was wrong and would be perceived to be so by
most people outside our university, and that, therefore, her best choice
is to privately apologize, then I shall have no choice
but to seek public redress. But I wish to go on record that I gave Ms.
Chen, and officials at our university, the chance to
resolve this case with as much sympathy for all parties involved while
restoring my reputation and dignity as a professor at
our university.

Sincerely,

Professor Richard de Canio
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
(06) 237 8626