Student Govt. at George Washington U. Demands Firing of Two Professors
“We are advocating for this action if the university does not move forward with the firing of these professors.”
When did college students become so entitled that they think they have the power to fire people? This is just bizarre.
The College Fix reports:
George Washington U. student government demands termination of two professors
The George Washington University Student Association is demanding the firing of a pair of professors — one who uttered the N-word in an educational context, and another who refused to allow a service dog in her class.
The former is Alicia Bitler, who uttered the N-word while discussing the painting “The Problem We All Live With” which depicts young Ruby Bridges integrating an all-white school in 1960.
The epithet is clearly visible on the painting. Bitler called the incident an “oops moment” and later held a discussion session on the matter. She eventually asked to be relieved of her teaching duties.
The latter, Marie Matta, initially had refused to allow a student’s service pitbull to enter her class, but later relented and apologized upon realizing her error.
“The Student Association Executive Team condemns the behavior of Professors Bitler and Matta,” the SA posted on its Instagram page. “We strongly believe that any professor who violates the basic rights of students, as these professors have done, should be terminated.
“This is a view we hold based on morals as well as the university’s own policies. We are advocating for this action if the university does not move forward with the firing of these professors.”
The Hatchet reports students and various members of the SA were critical of the initial SA Instagram post because it did not demand the professors’ termination.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Never in my life have I heard of a “service pittbull”. I’m the last person to judge dogs on their breed, but pittbulls are well known to be so protective of their owners that they can often mistake the intentions of others and attack. I would have an issue with that, too.
While all the pittbulls I have known have been loving creatures I would hesitate to accept on a student’s word that a pittbull was a trained service dog. I’d need to see papers first. And if it is a ‘comfort or anxiety’ dog they are generally not trained and I’d be concerned for the safety of the other students.
Offhand I’d say the student in question needs liability insurance on record at the school if they are bringing ‘any breed’ service dog into a classroom, particularly a comfort dog.
Additionally, this should not be the professor taking the heat here. The school needs to act like the adults in the room and require the liability insurance and inform the student of such.
I DO have an issue with pit bulls. Too many are inbred to the point of being the controllably insane. Bree to fight.
With “service animal” paperwork easier to buy than Matricula Consular cards, I’d not allow such an animal in my classroom.
The Americans with disabilities act has been a real bad thing. It is so abused it’s ridiculous.
As an aside on this, it is not uncommon to have students who would develop anxiety to this animal (ironic because this is her anti-anxiety animal). My sister, who I’ve tried many times to convince that not all pitts are the same, was biking on a trail in SC and attacked by a pitt bull so badly that she had to climb on top of a car and fight it off with the bike. She ended up with double digit stitches. I can’t say for sure, but people like her might take an issue with this animal in the classroom.
By the way, if you read about this more carefully it gets worse…..she “trained the pitt bull herself” which she claims is “all legal under the ADA”.
I breed dogs (not pitbulls). We got a 100-lb. male (n) back after six years(!) because the adoptive family allowed the dog to be the alpha in the home. He was food-aggressive, threatening when challenged, destructive, and entirely out of control. Finally, the family had had enough and asked us to train and rehome him rather than have him put down.
My wife, She Who Must Be Obeyed, taught him major lessons he needed to learn in the first two weeks, and six months later, he was the perfect housedog. We decided to keep him rather than rehome him, and had four wonderful years with him before losing him to cancer.
What is the point of this story? It’s that American universities need more administrators like my wife, and way fewer like the guy who wasted the first six years of a good dog’s life.
The administration should tell the students to stay in their own lane. They have no business trying to fire faculty for minor, or even major, missteps.
For several years I taught classes containing many pre-veterinary students. Out of 220 students, a few would bring animals (or their children), often weak or sick ones they were caring for. Puppies, kittens, piglets, snakes, lizards, and all kinds of dogs and cats were often in the class. I wouldn’t have had a problem with a pit bull, assuming the student had good control over the animal. But that was a different class, more in tune with animals.
It’s the difference between professional excellence and narcissism.
Your students were benefiting animals, not exploiting them for social status.
Thank God I transferred out of GW long ago. I would be embarrassed to be an alumni. Since when do woke punks dictate whether a professor can be fired? Shame on the art professor who resigned.
The “students” are demonstrating that they are not yet adults by essentially throwing a tantrum. Let them roll on the floor and hold their breath until they turn blue then tell them they do not run the University or decide who gets fired. They can either accept that, or disenroll and return to kindergarten and apply to come back when they mature.