Follow Up To "Words of Wisdom From an Oklahoma College Student"

February 11, 2010 by Anonymous

As promised, I am emailing to update you (post) meeting with the teachers supervisor. First I will lay out the method they require to report something and my exact statement on the required form. I will then give you a description of how the meeting went.

"Student Comment Form"

Requires: Name, Date, Student ID, Phone, Email, Class, Class time and days, Semester and year, Instructor of class.

"Have you spoken with the instructor about this?"

My response: "This is not my instructor. I was outside of his class waiting on my own to begin. The day, time, and room number show this to be his class."

"Describe the situation"

My response: "In short: He made the statement "Socialism is really a good idea". I heard a student start to rebut this comment; the students comment was met with something to the effect: that he was not as studied on the issue. The class met this with laughter and the teacher continued to push his personal views on the subject. I consider what he is doing indoctrination. It is offensive."

"Desired solution"

My Response: "Let him know that his position is not a platform for his personal views and use probation to ensure this is stopped.

Today I met with xxxx, the teacher's supervisor. I was careful to point out that since this was not my teacher, it is only through research that he is believed to be the one teaching that class, on that day, at that time. I asked her to confirm this was the teacher at the time before proceeding (I don't want an innocent person implicated).

She requested the comment form I had filled out, reviewed it on the spot, and then invited me into her office (we were in the receptionist area); for what it is worth, she was quick to correct me when I called her Mrs. xxxx (Dr. xxxx), I found this a bit arrogant.

Once in her office she sat and listened while I told her what happened. I offered the fact that I had considered this could have been a related subject that was indeed relevant to the class (ie: economics, political science, sociology, etc.). I then pointed out this was an English comp class, and the material he covered seemed to have no bearing on this subject. She asked if I had taken English comp classes there, to which I replied I had. She then stated that the process of building arguments is covered in these classes (true), and perhaps he was attempting to stir the pot in order to get them to understand how to use this method (respond). I told her my belief is that this was not just a momentary statement meant to invoke such a lesson, and that I had heard him discuss socialism over the course of 20 to 30 minutes with minimal class participation. I pointed out that it seemed to go beyond the scope of English comprehension, if indeed that was his intention. She then offered the fact that he is also a philosophy teacher and pondered if it was his philosophy class (I have no way of knowing).

She explained that the Dean would be advised and they would meet with the teacher to resolve the matter. I asked if I need to follow up in any way; I was told no. I believe her, however I feel a bit patronized by this process. What I mean is, she seemed very intent on proposing reasons he might discuss socialism. I am left with the feeling that any excuse he offers for bringing this into the classroom will be good enough for them. I did inform her, before I left, that there are people outside of the school waiting on me to communicate the outcome of this meeting that take this very seriously, as do I.

My belief is that the outcome will exonerate him and it will be business as usual. I must tell you before you proceed, that I am in my last semester before I enter a degree program, and I will ultimately receive my degree from xxxxxC; I do not want to jeopardize this in any way. Until this issue, I have never had any complaints with xxxxx, and I have over 60 credit hours now. I am unfamiliar with how this could affect me as the student, but I am nervous to say the least. My perception of what happened was that he was indoctrinating his students on socialism, and this is the only reason I pursued this to the level I have. I feel that the people that will be involved at xxxxx on this level could easily make my student life difficult.

Honestly, I am nervous about any further inquiry and how it may effect me personally.

Respectfully,
Oklahoma College Student