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Petition & Letter Writing Campaign to End Discrimination in Schools

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Some points from the article I'd like to stress:

* Bautista, 40, was a practicing physician in the Philippines before she moved to the United States in 1986.

* [S]he has worked as a medical researcher and physician assistant in four states, including two years at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

* She flunked during her 3rd quarter at Everett Community College
Students and advocates in the college have said that Bautista is not the first student to complain about discrimination

* Bautista alleges that her adviser said to her in a closed-door session, "Whatever you do this quarter, your grades will always be lower than the rest of the group because you did not have your primary education here and you do not have English as your primary language"

Our community needs to send the message out that we will not allow or condone discrimination, to ensure that this will not happen to any other Filipino or any other person of color.

Please send an letter to the College President at:
Charles N Earl
Everett Community College
MailStop: 0
2000 Tower Street
Everett, WA. 98201-1390
425-388-9573
cearl@evcc.ctc.edu

Please read and then sign this petition, which will be forwarded to Charles N Earl, College President at the end of each month, with a copy to be sent to Refugee and Immigrant Forum of Snohomish County.

Thank you.

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Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific
Filipino student who flunked says college discriminated

By Emily Heffter
Times Snohomish County bureau

EVERETT - A Filipino student says prejudice in the nursing department at Everett Community College caused her to flunk her last quarter there.

After losing a grievance battle with the college last month, she has filed complaints with the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Justice Department.

In a formal grievance filed Aug. 5, Marivic Bautista listed seven instances in which she said her professors had singled her out and discriminated against her because she is Filipino.

In one case, Bautista says, nursing instructor Karen Heys made her stand up in class as an example of a dark-skinned person during a lesson on jaundice.

Bautista failed her classes last spring, during her third quarter of nursing school. She said she decided to come forward to keep discrimination from happening to other Asian students.

"If it happened to me, it will happen again and again and again," she said.

The college denies the allegations. After an investigation, administrators said they couldn't find evidence of discrimination. They offered Bautista a $600 tuition waiver so she could repeat the quarter.

Everett Community College staff members said this week that they could not comment on anything mentioned in Bautista's grievance. They cited a federal student-privacy law that requires written student consent. Bautista said they did not attempt to reach her to obtain her consent.

They also would not comment on what Bautista's instructors allegedly did and said, even though student-privacy law does not protect employees of the college.

College officials stressed their commitment to keeping minority students in school. They pointed to their Multicultural Student Success Center, set up to help immigrant students and minorities.

They also pointed out that every student who earns a degree from the college is required to take a class about diversity.

"Our reach to the minority community is a big initiative of ours," said college President Charlie Earl.

Bautista, 40, was a practicing physician in the Philippines before she moved to the United States in 1986. Since then, she has worked as a medical researcher and physician assistant in four states, including two years at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Bautista wasn't the first to face discrimination at Everett Community College, students and advocates say. The college has records of eight complaints against the school of nursing since 1998. Of those, all but two were resolved without formal hearings.

Two students have filed discrimination complaints with the Washington Human Rights Commission since 1990.

Van Dinh-Kuno, executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Forum of Snohomish County, said that at least once a week, students who speak English with an accent come to the forum's on-campus office complaining that the school won't allow them to enroll in regular classes even though they have passed tests showing they are fluent in English.

"I strongly believe that discrimination takes place at the college, but most of the students, they won't say anything," Dinh-Kuno said, adding that Bautista is the first minority student she has seen take a complaint this far.

Bautista's grievance says a part-time instructor, Marggie Dawson, pulled her aside to tell her the school was trying to worsen her grades so she would flunk the third quarter. Dawson no longer works at the school and did not return calls seeking comment. Nursing Dean Patty Black said Dawson was not fired.

Bautista was an honors student in the college's nursing program until her third quarter. When she started having trouble in April, she went to see Heys, her adviser. Bautista said Heys closed her office door and told her, "Whatever you do this quarter, your grades will always be lower than the rest of the group because you did not have your primary education here and you do not have English as your primary language," according to Bautista's complaint.

Heys wrote in a department rebuttal that she does not recall that conversation. "I certainly may have discussed the need to apply herself to her studies," she wrote. Heys did not return calls last week.

Bautista said her problems continued throughout the quarter. After a while, she said, other students began to pull her aside after class to say they thought the teachers were picking on her.

"It just seemed like Marivic could do nothing right," said Linnea Smith, a classmate.

Heys wrote that she did ask Marivic to stand up in class as an example of a dark-skinned person, but it was during a discussion of oxygenation disorders, not jaundice. She wrote that Bautista should have told her the demonstration made her uncomfortable.

"If I had known that she felt 'demeaned' by my action, I certainly would have followed my usual pattern" and apologized, Heys wrote.

"Personally, by just listening to Marivic, the circumstances she has presented sound like it has more merit for it to be investigated," said Alicia Lalas, an Everett Community College trustee who is Filipino.

Lalas said there have been rumors for years about discrimination in the nursing school.

"My concern is, is there a pattern to this?" she said.

The mediating arm of the Department of Justice advised Bautista not to re-enroll at the college. Unsure about whether to go back to school, Bautista is working now.

Emily Heffter: 425-783-0624 or eheffter@seattletimes.com.