Professor Asks Student To Anglicize Her Name Because ‘It Sounds Like An Insult In English’, Gets Suspended Instead
Having a name that’s difficult to pronounce in English has its challenges. It means a lot of awkward mispronunciations, nicknames, and hurried apologies. Trust me, I know. However, just because somebody has a foreign name is no reason to ask them to change it.
Vietnamese student Phuc Bui Diem Nguyen says she became the victim of discrimination when a professor from Laney College in Oakland, California told her to “Anglicize” her name. The reason? Mathematics professor Matthew Hubbard believed that freshman Phuc Bui’s name sounded like an insult in English—‘f*** boy.’
The student’s sister shared the email exchange that happened between her and the professor on Instagram and it went viral. According to The New York Times, professor Hubbard was put on leave soon after the emails were made public.
A math professor from Laney College in Oakland, California, was suspended after he asked a Vietnamese student to “Anglicize” her name
Image credits: diemquyynh
Image credits: diemquyynh
Image credits: diemquyynh
The student’s sister made the emails sent by the professor public on her Instagram account
Image credits: diemquyynh
Image credits: diemquyynh
View this post on Instagram
Image credits: diemquyynh
The community college released an official statement
Image credits: diemquyynh
The first email exchange between Hubbard and Phuc Bui happened on Wednesday, June 17. Phuc Bui explicitly told her math professor that she would file a complaint with the community college’s Title IX office if he couldn’t call her by her real name.
President of Laney College, Tammeil Gilkerson, called the incident “disturbing” in a statement released on Thursday. According to her, the professor was placed on administrative leave while an investigation is being conducted.
“While our mission has been bold and unrelenting, we also recognize that our college and its community is a reflection of broader society, and we must actively fight ignorance with education. We do not tolerate racism, discrimination, or oppression of any kind,” Gilkerson said.
Laney College has a large Asian student population. 16k students study at this Oakland community college and 29 percent of them are of Asian descent.
Phuc Bui said in a Zoom interview with KGO-TV on Friday that she used to go by her nickname—May. However, after years and years of using this nickname, she wanted to use her real name which means “happiness blessing.” She added that when she had been unaware of what the word “Anglicize” meant until she asked her friend what it meant after she received the email from her professor.
The professor apologized on Saturday
On Saturday, Hubbard apologized on his Twitter account which has since been deleted. “I apologize for my insensitive actions which caused pain and anger to my student, and which have now caused pain and anger to an untold number of people who read my two inappropriate emails on the Internet,” he wrote in his apology.
He admitted to The New York Times that sending out those emails was a mistake and added that there were two people in his online trigonometry class with the last name Nguyen. Since the other person with the same surname changed their online name, Hubbard said that he thought he’d ask Phuc Bui to do the same.
“The first email was a mistake, and I made it thinking about another student willing to Anglicize. But it’s a big difference with someone doing it voluntarily and asking someone to do it. The second email is very offensive, and if I had waited eight hours, I would’ve written something very different,” he said.
Here’s how people reacted to the incident
Some people said that the professor had a point, even though he handled things very, very badly
I would have asked the student what they prefer to be called as they have four names- if we had a middle name on the class register, our teachers would not refer to us by our whole name. If I was unfamiliar with the name, I would ask them to pronounce it- I have a huge PET PEEVE about names being mis-pronounced.
I have the same pet peeve. When I meet someone with a name that can be pronounced multiple ways (like mine /less lee/ vs lez lee/) or a name I've never heard, I ask them to pronounce it as I write it down phonetically! To tell the student to pick a new name without even knowing the correct pronunciation is just really lazy AND rude.
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I wonder if Laney ever has in-service training for instructors. This seems like the kind of thing that would/should be covered in a diversity/cultural sensitivity class. If not, it sounds like they REALLY need to implement something. I mean, lots of corporations have classes like these for employees. Not universities? And I'm not talking about quashing feee speech, just providing instructors with tools for dealing with a challenge like student-has-a-weird-name. They probably have to take sexual harassment training, right? I truly hope that Laney will work with Hubbard (and other instructors) to educate and implement best practices rather than firing him. His apology seemed legit to me, so maybe he'd be open to a training. It's much more helpful to open the discussion in a situation like this, and come to a greater understanding than to can anyone who seems clueless. If someone REFUSES to learn a different way, then fire their a*s! Why am I feeling like I'm going to get downvotes for this?
We live in an international world, so it should be rather normal to ask somebody how the name is pronounced. A French colleague is called Aglae (A - Gla - E). She is called by some people Algue or even Ugly...
My friend's name is Welsh -- Aneurin, pronounced "an-EYE-run." He goes by "Annie" and when people respond like idiots, he tells them his name and they usually get over themselves.
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I looked it up and according to a person who speaks the language it's not meant to be pronounced with an uck sound but ook and the ending is softer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV_n4aDs6qo
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I worked with a young woman whose name I just could not pronounce. Not once in the 6 months I worked with her. It never even occurred to me to ask her to simplify or Anglicize. I figured if the owner of the name wants to do that , they will let you know
It's super common for people in business/academic world to include a phonetic pronunciation of their name in their email signature. Very grateful to those who enlighten others like this. Who hasn't had their name butchered at one point?
I have seen that, but not enough! That would actually be a great addition to a business card! I'm going to see about using it! (My married name gets slaughtered)
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I never even thought twice about changing my name to Ali when I spend time in Iran. My wife also has an English and Iranian name. So I can see the professor's point of view (and our names aren't rude, just difficult for the locals). But he could have dealt with it much more sensitively.
When it is your own choice it is lightyears away from being more or less ordered to do it. It also sounds as though it is an active wish, on your part, to blend in - when you are there, which means that it is not where you live permanently. Racism and xenophobia are everywhere, in all societies, and pressure on newer residents/citizens to change their names according to what is more common must be just about the most common form of pressure to integrate there is in the world.
Load More Replies... Multi-ethnic, multi-lingual person here, who's worked & lived in France, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. I also have a B. Languages. I have had MANY instances where a name in one language sounds offensive in another (Connor in english, sounds EXACTLY like "arsehole" in french. Not similar. Identical. "Deb" (Deborah) means "fat" in Japanese). HOWEVER.... there are MANY polite ways to discuss this matter with someone, if their name LITERALLY sounds offensive. HOWEVER... if it sounds "similar"... just learn how to pronounce their name CORRECTLY!!!!! If they want to keep their offensive-sounding name in whatever language - let them!! IT IS THEIR NAME. Knew a british guy Connor, who had no idea what his name meant in french, & was complaining about the local French laughing whenever he introduced himself. Once I explained, he was mortified, & HE chose to go by his middle-name while in France. Outside of France, he went by Connor, and our French friends in the UK dealt with it perfectly fine.
From the comment by the sister it sounds like the student went by a different name in high school, so why not continue with that name? The professor definitely could have made a better request, and clearly the second email was waaaay out of line, but I don't think I would have filed a Title IX complaint, I would have just thought the professor was an a*****e. PS, I have a name that is difficult to pronounce in English, and people have constantly mispronounced it and misspelled it my entire life. AND I have been asked to go by an "easier" name. But I UNDERSTAND that it's difficult. I'm actually pretty self-conscious about it.
The sister brought that up in the context that her sister is happy and proud to use her given name now that she's escaped the childishness of high school. So having an instructor behave in a childish, ignorant manner may have made this EVEN MORE upsetting to her.
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The Vietnamese pronunciation is soooo difficult for me, that I needed full two days to get " How are you doing?" out the way people are understanding. When seeing a text, thinking: seems to be easy for me, it's like French.......Ha, noooo they doing it the Vietnamese way. TAM BIET:)))
Load More Replies... "Anglicize" -- idiotic from any angle, professor. How about asking the student F2F how she prefers to be called on, and then go with that?
Everyone just needs to remember different languages are different languages there are only so many sounds a human can make and words will have different meanings in different tongues in German to drive is to fahrt and its said like fart but I won't refuse to say it this dude really needs to grow up and realize we don't have a monopoly on sounds there are probably some words in English that mean something offensive where this student is from
Tough this probably will be an unpopular opinion, i kinda see the teacher's point in this, people can and will be cruel for no reason, and having a weird sounding name may cause people to ridicule her. However i think that there were more diplomatic ways to handle this, like ask her how she prefers to be called, use the family name, or just miss.
I went to college in Mexico with a guy named Dennis (6'2" and well built). He had all the professors call him Hector, because in Spanish his name was pronounced "Denise". Talk about insecurity.
All this PC and positive discrimination is getting out of hand.
for those interested, it's actually pronounced "f**k boo-ee". :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDctYTMJWNE
Had a friend Siobhan (Sha-vorn, phonetically, for her). It's an Irish name. She was dark-haired and pale skin. The number of times it was said wrong (including myself when I first met her at work with her name tag), was constant. I took the time to learn how to pronounce it properly, and the history / origin of the name. Took maybe 1 minute to learn the sounds, about 5 minutes to learn the history, and many a bottle-of-wine to sympathise with her ongoing frustration. EFFORT to learn something new is a choice - and is actually pretty easy for those who aren't lazy arses like this teacher.
I mean, he had no business asking her to change her name, but her filing a complaint instead of saying "no" is a bit of overreaction. She may be Phuc Bai, but deep down she is Karen.
There are so many ways he could have gone about this-- asking how it's pronounced, asking her for a nickname, calling her Ms/Mx. Nguyen, etc. Anything would have been better than asking her to Anglicize it and doubling down when she informed him that his request was racist.
It is entirely normal for people to adopt a name that is easily pronounceable to people they associate with.
Wait, he did not even ask how the name is pronounced, he just assumed? I guess he never met anyone named, say Sean, who's name sounds not at all like it is written? And to those saying he might have had good intentions and wanted to help her avoid being bullied - he should have ASKED HER FIRST! Tell her that he knows how students can be mean about other's names, and if she wanted any help with that. Ugh!
As an educator, you ask a student what name they would like you to use to refer to them. As long as it is reasonable (and not some joke like "Master of the Universe") do it. If the student told him to use her name as is, the professor should have used her name as is. However, and from what I read this is not the case, if the student just filed a complaint without discussing it with the professor it would be on the student then.
Isn't it annoying how they always apologize when the s**t hits the fan ? I mean, it sounded so unsincere that no apology was probably even better...
I see his point, but it was poorly delivered. Instead of insisting she changed it he should have just pointed out to be weary that others will likely mispronounce her name and maybe even bully her. His delivery sucked
His point is that it makes HIM uncomfortable. That's not her problem. He needs to get over it and try to learn how to sat her name.
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Okay, the teacher is an insensitive lout. But the student could have just said no instead of immediately going for the " I'm offended " publicity.
You think he's the first? Also, he's a teacher. He should be comfortable with asking how to pronounce a person's name and to know you shouldn't ask someone to change their name because it's hard for YOU. It's at least microaggression to make someone or ask someone to change their name to make you feel better.
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I had an issue years ago with a receptionist named Vajaya. "Good Afternoon, you've reached [Company Name], this Vajaya speaking" wasn't going over well with clients. She was a lovely Indian-American woman. Eventually, we just asked her to stop introducing herself.
Telling someone to change their name because if offends you, is a you problem. Not a them problem. The fact that he doubled down while using actual cuss words is a big problem. It's ignorant at best to think someone should change their name to make it easier for you.
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I think she graduated high school in the US. Fairly sure she is perfectly well aware of how her name may be mispronounced.
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“Taking advantage?” Every human has a name, and it’s nobody’s business to ask them to change it. The professor was an a**e!
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Doesn't if you listen to someone saying it correctly.
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Er.. does it? Looking it up doesn't bring that up at all. Have I misunderstood somehow?
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But why should they accommodate others? It's a different language. Does intent not matter anymore? No-one is intending it to be an offensive word. I could say 'Hi my name is D**k'. Not offensive. I could say 'You are a d**k' which is offensive. (Apologies - it's just an example and I do NOT think you are a d**k!) It's expecting people to consider things only from an english speaking perspective which is bloody arrogant surely? I do think that maybe a meeting could have taken place to find out how to pronounce the name first and maybe it would have avoided a lot of unpleasantness. If the professor then persisted in thinking a name change was remotely appropriate then he's the d**k.
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As he asked twice and very bluntly it does come across more as a demand couched as a request really. Still don't understand why the man wouldn't at least find out how it's pronounced first - it doesn't sound like f**k but more like f**k. If I can find an online 'tutorial' on how to pronounce it then so could the professor - or even, shockingly, have checked with the student.
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How does poulos sound offensive? I'm not able to make a rude word out of it, but I might not be trying hard enough!
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Really? Can you provide the link? I've only found ones that pronounce it to rhyme with Book-Fooey. No 'uck' sound at all. EDIT: I agree Jon S. It sounds more that way to me too but I thought people might not hear it or believe it. The k at the end is more of a b than a k sound.
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Well, for a start what are the chances that it doesn't sound like that? Didn't someone mention that they'd looked it up and it was pronounced Foop? Talking to people and listening to how things are pronounced is an option! Also, stop pretending that the rest of the world doesn't exist. Of course there are words in other languages that sound like rude ones in english. Big f*****g deal. Works both ways you know. Most children will find it funny and then move on and if they don't that will be because the adults had problems moving on even when they should know better. EDIT: Pronounced 'F**k Boo-ee' so not difficult.
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I would have asked the student what they prefer to be called as they have four names- if we had a middle name on the class register, our teachers would not refer to us by our whole name. If I was unfamiliar with the name, I would ask them to pronounce it- I have a huge PET PEEVE about names being mis-pronounced.
I have the same pet peeve. When I meet someone with a name that can be pronounced multiple ways (like mine /less lee/ vs lez lee/) or a name I've never heard, I ask them to pronounce it as I write it down phonetically! To tell the student to pick a new name without even knowing the correct pronunciation is just really lazy AND rude.
Load More Replies... I wonder if Laney ever has in-service training for instructors. This seems like the kind of thing that would/should be covered in a diversity/cultural sensitivity class. If not, it sounds like they REALLY need to implement something. I mean, lots of corporations have classes like these for employees. Not universities? And I'm not talking about quashing feee speech, just providing instructors with tools for dealing with a challenge like student-has-a-weird-name. They probably have to take sexual harassment training, right? I truly hope that Laney will work with Hubbard (and other instructors) to educate and implement best practices rather than firing him. His apology seemed legit to me, so maybe he'd be open to a training. It's much more helpful to open the discussion in a situation like this, and come to a greater understanding than to can anyone who seems clueless. If someone REFUSES to learn a different way, then fire their a*s! Why am I feeling like I'm going to get downvotes for this?
We live in an international world, so it should be rather normal to ask somebody how the name is pronounced. A French colleague is called Aglae (A - Gla - E). She is called by some people Algue or even Ugly...
My friend's name is Welsh -- Aneurin, pronounced "an-EYE-run." He goes by "Annie" and when people respond like idiots, he tells them his name and they usually get over themselves.
Load More Replies... I looked it up and according to a person who speaks the language it's not meant to be pronounced with an uck sound but ook and the ending is softer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV_n4aDs6qo
Load More Replies... I worked with a young woman whose name I just could not pronounce. Not once in the 6 months I worked with her. It never even occurred to me to ask her to simplify or Anglicize. I figured if the owner of the name wants to do that , they will let you know
It's super common for people in business/academic world to include a phonetic pronunciation of their name in their email signature. Very grateful to those who enlighten others like this. Who hasn't had their name butchered at one point?
I have seen that, but not enough! That would actually be a great addition to a business card! I'm going to see about using it! (My married name gets slaughtered)
Load More Replies... I never even thought twice about changing my name to Ali when I spend time in Iran. My wife also has an English and Iranian name. So I can see the professor's point of view (and our names aren't rude, just difficult for the locals). But he could have dealt with it much more sensitively.
When it is your own choice it is lightyears away from being more or less ordered to do it. It also sounds as though it is an active wish, on your part, to blend in - when you are there, which means that it is not where you live permanently. Racism and xenophobia are everywhere, in all societies, and pressure on newer residents/citizens to change their names according to what is more common must be just about the most common form of pressure to integrate there is in the world.
Load More Replies... Multi-ethnic, multi-lingual person here, who's worked & lived in France, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. I also have a B. Languages. I have had MANY instances where a name in one language sounds offensive in another (Connor in english, sounds EXACTLY like "arsehole" in french. Not similar. Identical. "Deb" (Deborah) means "fat" in Japanese). HOWEVER.... there are MANY polite ways to discuss this matter with someone, if their name LITERALLY sounds offensive. HOWEVER... if it sounds "similar"... just learn how to pronounce their name CORRECTLY!!!!! If they want to keep their offensive-sounding name in whatever language - let them!! IT IS THEIR NAME. Knew a british guy Connor, who had no idea what his name meant in french, & was complaining about the local French laughing whenever he introduced himself. Once I explained, he was mortified, & HE chose to go by his middle-name while in France. Outside of France, he went by Connor, and our French friends in the UK dealt with it perfectly fine.
From the comment by the sister it sounds like the student went by a different name in high school, so why not continue with that name? The professor definitely could have made a better request, and clearly the second email was waaaay out of line, but I don't think I would have filed a Title IX complaint, I would have just thought the professor was an a*****e. PS, I have a name that is difficult to pronounce in English, and people have constantly mispronounced it and misspelled it my entire life. AND I have been asked to go by an "easier" name. But I UNDERSTAND that it's difficult. I'm actually pretty self-conscious about it.
The sister brought that up in the context that her sister is happy and proud to use her given name now that she's escaped the childishness of high school. So having an instructor behave in a childish, ignorant manner may have made this EVEN MORE upsetting to her.
Load More Replies... The Vietnamese pronunciation is soooo difficult for me, that I needed full two days to get " How are you doing?" out the way people are understanding. When seeing a text, thinking: seems to be easy for me, it's like French.......Ha, noooo they doing it the Vietnamese way. TAM BIET:)))
Load More Replies... "Anglicize" -- idiotic from any angle, professor. How about asking the student F2F how she prefers to be called on, and then go with that?
Everyone just needs to remember different languages are different languages there are only so many sounds a human can make and words will have different meanings in different tongues in German to drive is to fahrt and its said like fart but I won't refuse to say it this dude really needs to grow up and realize we don't have a monopoly on sounds there are probably some words in English that mean something offensive where this student is from
Tough this probably will be an unpopular opinion, i kinda see the teacher's point in this, people can and will be cruel for no reason, and having a weird sounding name may cause people to ridicule her. However i think that there were more diplomatic ways to handle this, like ask her how she prefers to be called, use the family name, or just miss.
I went to college in Mexico with a guy named Dennis (6'2" and well built). He had all the professors call him Hector, because in Spanish his name was pronounced "Denise". Talk about insecurity.
All this PC and positive discrimination is getting out of hand.
for those interested, it's actually pronounced "f**k boo-ee". :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDctYTMJWNE
Had a friend Siobhan (Sha-vorn, phonetically, for her). It's an Irish name. She was dark-haired and pale skin. The number of times it was said wrong (including myself when I first met her at work with her name tag), was constant. I took the time to learn how to pronounce it properly, and the history / origin of the name. Took maybe 1 minute to learn the sounds, about 5 minutes to learn the history, and many a bottle-of-wine to sympathise with her ongoing frustration. EFFORT to learn something new is a choice - and is actually pretty easy for those who aren't lazy arses like this teacher.
I mean, he had no business asking her to change her name, but her filing a complaint instead of saying "no" is a bit of overreaction. She may be Phuc Bai, but deep down she is Karen.
There are so many ways he could have gone about this-- asking how it's pronounced, asking her for a nickname, calling her Ms/Mx. Nguyen, etc. Anything would have been better than asking her to Anglicize it and doubling down when she informed him that his request was racist.
It is entirely normal for people to adopt a name that is easily pronounceable to people they associate with.
Wait, he did not even ask how the name is pronounced, he just assumed? I guess he never met anyone named, say Sean, who's name sounds not at all like it is written? And to those saying he might have had good intentions and wanted to help her avoid being bullied - he should have ASKED HER FIRST! Tell her that he knows how students can be mean about other's names, and if she wanted any help with that. Ugh!
As an educator, you ask a student what name they would like you to use to refer to them. As long as it is reasonable (and not some joke like "Master of the Universe") do it. If the student told him to use her name as is, the professor should have used her name as is. However, and from what I read this is not the case, if the student just filed a complaint without discussing it with the professor it would be on the student then.
Isn't it annoying how they always apologize when the s**t hits the fan ? I mean, it sounded so unsincere that no apology was probably even better...
I see his point, but it was poorly delivered. Instead of insisting she changed it he should have just pointed out to be weary that others will likely mispronounce her name and maybe even bully her. His delivery sucked
His point is that it makes HIM uncomfortable. That's not her problem. He needs to get over it and try to learn how to sat her name.
Load More Replies... Okay, the teacher is an insensitive lout. But the student could have just said no instead of immediately going for the " I'm offended " publicity.
You think he's the first? Also, he's a teacher. He should be comfortable with asking how to pronounce a person's name and to know you shouldn't ask someone to change their name because it's hard for YOU. It's at least microaggression to make someone or ask someone to change their name to make you feel better.
Load More Replies... I had an issue years ago with a receptionist named Vajaya. "Good Afternoon, you've reached [Company Name], this Vajaya speaking" wasn't going over well with clients. She was a lovely Indian-American woman. Eventually, we just asked her to stop introducing herself.
Telling someone to change their name because if offends you, is a you problem. Not a them problem. The fact that he doubled down while using actual cuss words is a big problem. It's ignorant at best to think someone should change their name to make it easier for you.
Load More Replies... I think she graduated high school in the US. Fairly sure she is perfectly well aware of how her name may be mispronounced.
Load More Replies... “Taking advantage?” Every human has a name, and it’s nobody’s business to ask them to change it. The professor was an a**e!
Load More Replies... Doesn't if you listen to someone saying it correctly.
Load More Replies... Er.. does it? Looking it up doesn't bring that up at all. Have I misunderstood somehow?
Load More Replies... But why should they accommodate others? It's a different language. Does intent not matter anymore? No-one is intending it to be an offensive word. I could say 'Hi my name is D**k'. Not offensive. I could say 'You are a d**k' which is offensive. (Apologies - it's just an example and I do NOT think you are a d**k!) It's expecting people to consider things only from an english speaking perspective which is bloody arrogant surely? I do think that maybe a meeting could have taken place to find out how to pronounce the name first and maybe it would have avoided a lot of unpleasantness. If the professor then persisted in thinking a name change was remotely appropriate then he's the d**k.
Load More Replies... As he asked twice and very bluntly it does come across more as a demand couched as a request really. Still don't understand why the man wouldn't at least find out how it's pronounced first - it doesn't sound like f**k but more like f**k. If I can find an online 'tutorial' on how to pronounce it then so could the professor - or even, shockingly, have checked with the student.
Load More Replies... How does poulos sound offensive? I'm not able to make a rude word out of it, but I might not be trying hard enough!
Load More Replies... Really? Can you provide the link? I've only found ones that pronounce it to rhyme with Book-Fooey. No 'uck' sound at all. EDIT: I agree Jon S. It sounds more that way to me too but I thought people might not hear it or believe it. The k at the end is more of a b than a k sound.
Load More Replies... Well, for a start what are the chances that it doesn't sound like that? Didn't someone mention that they'd looked it up and it was pronounced Foop? Talking to people and listening to how things are pronounced is an option! Also, stop pretending that the rest of the world doesn't exist. Of course there are words in other languages that sound like rude ones in english. Big f*****g deal. Works both ways you know. Most children will find it funny and then move on and if they don't that will be because the adults had problems moving on even when they should know better. EDIT: Pronounced 'F**k Boo-ee' so not difficult.
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