University Dean Charged With Using Students as 'Slaves'

[Analog]

Former St. John’s University dean, Cecilia Chang, who was charged earlier this month with embezzling over $1 million in donations from the college, was nabbed again today by the FBI and accused using scholarship students as domestic servants.
Chang, 57, allegedly forced students to do her laundry, clean her house, cook and chauffeur her son around.
“Chang threatened the students and placed them in fear that if they refused to perform these personal services they would lose their scholarships and be unable to attend St. John’s,” FBI Special Agent Kenneth Hosey wrote in the arrest warrant.
Chang had four students working seven days a week as her personal valets, one was forced to drive her son to the airport at 3 a.m. Others shoveled snow, took out the garbage and shuttled her to her hair salon, according to court papers.
“[Chang] let me be the housekeeper for her house and give me scholarship,” one scholarship student wrote to the college. “We have three housekeeper before, and she ask us work 122 days per year per person.”
After Chang was fired from the college in June, the terrified exchange student feared she would not be able to attend the school without the dean’s largess.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/01/st-johns-univ-dean-charged-using-student-slaves/

 

[schneiderguy]

“[Chang] let me be the housekeeper for her house and give me scholarship,”

Sounds like a good deal to me :hmm:

 

[FleshLight]

I'd do that shit for a free ride too.

 

[khon]

I'd absolutely do that for a scholarship.

Obviously though it makes a difference whether they were told about the terms up front, or if she just abused them afterwards.

 

[DrunkenSano]

They should've kept their mouths shut, easily worth it for a scholarship. Now future some students are screwed thanks to those tattletales.

 

[lxskllr]

They should've kept their mouths shut, easily worth it for a scholarship. Now future some students are screwed thanks to those tattletales.

I'm assuming they had the scholarship anyway, and she was just scamming work out of them. I'd work for school, but I don't think that's what was going on here.

 

[bignateyk]

I'm assuming they had the scholarship anyway, and she was just scamming work out of them. I'd work for school, but I don't think that's what was going on here.

She was the one giving out the scholarships, so i'm assuming she also had the power to revoke them.

I think the real reason she got busted was because she embezzled a million dollars from the university, and the feds got suspicious. The ensuing investigation uncovered the rest up.

 

[SR1729]

To all those who don't think this is serious, this is blatant theft. She used university funds to pay people for personal services. I'd like to see a 2 - 3 year prison term tacked on to whatever results in her other embezzlement shens.

 

[yhelothar]

How is it slavery if they're getting paid?

 

[oogabooga]

How is it slavery if they're getting paid?

Threatening to disqualify them from receiving university funds that make paying for their education possible unless they do what they're told? Yea.. nothing wrong with that :hmm:

It's not like these are student complaining about having to get a job with work-study scholarships.

 

[Blackjack200]

This story would be a thousand times more awesome if she was hot and the students were sex slaves...

...wait, that would just be a porno.

 

[Dwight_M]

This makes me think of my High School. All of the Special Ed students were basically used as janitors. They gave it some special title like "Life Skills Development" but all those kids ever did was clean tables, mob floors, and other janitorial shit like that. Pretty much the only thing they didn't do as far as I know was clean toilets.

 

[ModerateRepZero]

To all those who don't think this is serious, this is blatant theft. She used university funds to pay people for personal services. I'd like to see a 2 - 3 year prison term tacked on to whatever results in her other embezzlement shens.

This ^^ If the scholarship had a legitimate academic component that, for example, involved working as a researcher for a professor or the university and it was disclosed up front, I'd have no problem with the scholarship. But it doesn't sound like it was disclosed up front, and the scholarship appears to have been used as leverage to coerce the students to perform personal services akin to servants.

How is it slavery if they're getting paid?

The fact that the former Dean had control over their scholarship and could credibly threaten them with the loss of their scholarship unless they did what she told them to. Call it blackmail, call it "involuntary servitude", it's still wrong and not something the students had much of a choice in as far as compliance.

 

[yhelothar]

The story doesn't go into detail of the terms of the scholarship. If the students earned the scholarships by merit, but the dean has control of it and decided to use it as leverage, then that is absolutely wrong. If it was a scholarship of the dean's own funds and she can reward it however she pleases, then I can see some legitimacy of what she's doing.

 

[Analog]

 

[Fear No Evil]

LOL at people thinking this is not a complete abuse of power situation.

 

[Schadenfroh]

This kind of shit is not uncommon with foreign professors from certain countries.

We have had instances of foreign professors abusing (excessive work loads, demeaning, etc.) foreign graduate students in the past, nearly all of it goes unreported because the students think that they are under the professor's thumb or their culture instills some kind of bizarre loyalty / obligation to him.

I know of it going on right now, but the international students (who constitute the entire lab) are too afraid of being deported if their boss fires them for reporting them or their boss is deported for abusing them (thus no one to work for) or their boss using whatever pull he has to seek vengeance against them if they switch advisors.

I freaking hate seeing international graduate students working 50+ hour weeks for only 20 hours pay, especially when the university (and I think the feds as well) officially caps them at 20.

 

[iGas]

Do chores or lose your scholarships, disgraced ex-dean of St. John's Cecilia Chang allegedly said

Before the slave-driving charges, Chang was indicted in state court on charges she filched a million bucks from St. John's for casino trips, shopping sprees at Victoria's Secret and her son's law school tuition.

Great start as a thieving lawyer I say.

That woman and all parties that involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.
I don't know what worst, profs that plagiarize their student works or deans that force students to be their personal servants.

[add]

Cecilia Chang, Former St. John's University Dean, Forced Scholarship Students to Work for Her, Say Feds

A bail hearing was set for Friday in federal court in Brooklyn. Chang faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the federal charges.

Chang had already been arrested on Sept. 15 on state charges that she embezzled about $1 million, including a $250,000 donation from a Saudi prince's foundation.

In a statement, St. John's called the latest accusations "shocking and in complete violation of what this university stands for" and said that the students would continue to receive financial aid.

I'm glad that the criminal is facing 20 years in prison, and it is good to hear that the students aren't losing their scholarships.

 

[Born2bwire]

I freaking hate seeing international graduate students working 50+ hour weeks for only 20 hours pay, especially when the university (and I think the feds as well) officially caps them at 20.

Honestly, I would consider that perfectly normal for graduate students. For engineering and sciences you pretty much put in 60+ hour work weeks as a graduate student. This would encompass the amount of time devoted to study, teaching, courses and research. The work you do on a research grant is supposed to be applicable to your thesis research. So while you get paid for "x hours" of work, if you intend to graduate in a timely manner you have to put in a lot of work in addition to that. These aren't hourly jobs, more like salary work.

 

[TecHNooB]

scary asian lady. i bet her son goes to an ivy league school and has a 4.0, just look at her face!

 

[her209]

Why is the guy on the left giving us the finger?

 

[iGas]

Ex-Dean Cecilia Chang Accused of Making Students Do Her Chores

Chang is also accused of granting her son a scholarship to the college’s law school. When the school discovered the scholarship, she allegedly charged the tuition to her credit car and submitted it to the school for repayments as travel expenses.

Disgraced Ex-Dean Cecilia Chang: Slave Lord Or Just Another Hardass Asian Mama? -- by: angry and bitter daughter.

“The students also performed work at her office and her Jamaica Estates property. They shoveled snow, took out garbage, did laundry and prepared dinner for her, her son and her son’s girlfriend.”

The only lawyer that the son going to become is a crooked lawyer if the accusations are true.

 

[iGas]

na.

 

[iGas]

scary asian lady. i bet her son goes to an ivy league school and has a 4.0, just look at her face!

Son got law scholarship St. John's.

[add]

Pals bail out dean

Six people are pledging their houses or personal assurances of repayment to secure her $1.5 million bond. Two of the guarantors are pals of her son and accountants at KPMG.

I'm going to make a bold statement. Could it be that the crime doesn't stop at and only with Chang?

 

[her209]

The only lawyer that the son going to become is a crooked lawyer if the accusations are true.

They're all crooked.