Something similar happened in my office (all English speakers) where a coworker complained about two others because they were “too loud.” I sit in the same area and have had no problems with the “loud” coworkers. The accused said that the complainer always felt left out of their conversations and would try to eavesdrop when they spoke quietly. My point is that some people do get offended if they can’t hear/understand everything that’s going on.
I’m not sure that, taken at face value, the email is racist. If it were, I would think that ALL Asian students would be left out of opportunities rather than the students identified. However, there may be some undercurrents of racism that extend beyond the email, and we aren’t privy to that information. If the other faculty members are not figments of Neely’s imagination, then that is a far greater problem. But, regardless, the email is definitely insensitive, and the problem(s) should have been handled face-to-face to gauge nonverbal feedback.