University Diaries » A University Director of Forensics Who…

… seems to have learned his trade from the chef in The Dirty Fork Sketch is in trouble.

Having encouraged a student to give a speech on a controversial subject, the professor interrupted the student to inform him that he was a fascist bastard.

Yet more cleverly, the professor refused to give the student a grade, but wrote on his evaluation form

Ask God what your grade is.

Of course the best way to handle this sort of thing is to impose a speech code on the school that says you can’t say anything about anything to anybody.

No. There must be a better way.

The better way to go involves recognizing that the reason this story is ALL over the global media this morning, even though in the scheme of things it doesn’t amount to much, is that a real live professor – embodiment of thoughtful dispassion – flipped his lid. This doesn’t happen – at least on so spectacular and stupid a scale – every day.

Also that this particular lid flipping flips over into the culture wars.

What to do? Punish the professor. If he’s not tenured, you might ask yourself whether a rageful ideologue who attacks students is the sort of person you want modeling rhetorical form. If he’s tenured, he needs at the very least to apologize to the student (assuming accounts of the event are correct) and to the rest of the class.

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Barb Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 11:59AM

Wow – just, wow! Although if the professor really did encourage the student to give such a speech, too [not clear from the linked article], then the situation is even more disturbing. Was the prof setting the student up so that the outburst could happen? Why would any responsible prof encourage a student to give a speech on this kind of topic without also encouraging the student to think about how the speech would be received, and why it would be offensive? Especially a prof teaching that kind of course? Did he see it as an opportunity to prove to the rest of the students what an open-minded guy he was, or something?

Erin O'Connor Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 3:29PM

The AP article is badly written; the "fascist bastard" incident happened at another time. ADF, which is representing the student, has posted a clear chronology of events, and also provides a link to the professor’s evaluation sheet. In addition to taunting the student to ask God what his grade is, the professor wrote at the bottom of the sheet, "Prostheletyzing is innappropriate in public school."

Margaret Soltan Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 4:57PM

What, he has a lisp? Or does that describe encouraging someone to get a prosthesis?

Thank you, Erin, for those details and corrections.

Erin O'Connor Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 5:26PM

Ah! I am with you on the artificial limbs! I think if lisping were the issue, he might have spelled it "prostheletything." And then he would have lost his point entirely, because he would have been talking about advocacy for paying percentages of income to the church.

Margaret Soltan Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 5:40PM

I’m laughing very hard, Erin.

Erin O'Connor Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 9:37PM

I’m glad. Good days are days when something makes you laugh. Great days are days when you make someone else laugh.

Shane Street Says:
February 18th, 2009 at 8:21AM

Holy convergence Batman! UD reaches critical mass. Detonation danger!

I admire both of your blogs.

Margaret Soltan Says:
February 18th, 2009 at 9:04AM

Thank you, Shane.

Erin O'Connor Says:
February 18th, 2009 at 11:30AM

Ditto, Shane!