Question 4. How did the president and the vice-presidents respond to the accusation?---- Passage 1 ----- The president of the University of Toulon and two top assistants were suspended Monday over accusations1of unlawful activities in the admission and graduation of Chinese students who were said ready to pay bribes2 for a French diploma. The suspension was an unusual public stain on the French cherished tradition of opening its largely free education system to students from around the world. It showed some of the pressures created by an increasing number of Chinese students who go abroad, sometimes unprepared, to gain the honor of having a foreign diplomat in China’s increasingly competitive job market. The university president, Laroussi Oueslati, and two vice presidents were ordered to step down because they were trying to prevent an Education Ministry investigation by frightening professors, threatening witnesses and hiding documents that described admissions procedures. A report, handed to the ministry Monday, said that Oueslati and his aides tried to prevent the inquiry from finding out more about what happened, leading to the suspension. The ministry report did not say that Oueslati and his aides took bribes, but that the irregularities were done under their administration. They declined3 to comment. France’s open-armed attitude toward foreign students came from what the country used to call its “civilizing mission”, a duty to bring learning and European culture to less advanced parts of the world. In that context, more than 260,000 foreign students are enrolled this year in French universities and other institutions of higher learning, the Foreign Ministry estimated, making up 12 percent of the student population. As usual, more than half the foreign students came from Africa, particularly West African countries that were former French colonies and where French is widely spoken. But Asian students made up 16 percent of the total, up 8 percent from last year and part of a steady climb. A large part of that increase was due to an increase in Chinese students. According to the Education Ministry investigation, several University of Toulon officials were visited by Chinese middlemen4 who promised to pay bribes for a number of admissions and guaranteed graduations for Chinese students. Those officials told investigators they turned down the offers. ----- Question 4. How did the president and the vice-presidents respond to the accusation?