Administrators at UC-San Diego have gone into meltdown mode and are apologizing for supposedly racist remarks by a lecturer in a chemistry class.
After hearing some noise from the hallway, the lecturer apparently quoted the cartoon character ‘Speedy Gonzalez.’
The moment was recorded and shared on social media, where it blew up quickly with comments.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:
UC San Diego administrators apologize for a lecturer’s ‘disrespectful and racist’ remarks in classUC San Diego administrators have publicly apologized to students for the “disrespectful and racist remarks” that a lecturer recently made during an undergraduate class in chemistry.The incident occurred last week and involved Robert Ternansky, a veteran lecturer who was bothered by noise that appeared to come from a hallway outside his classroom.A roughly 60-second video of the class, which UCSD was recording for future use by students, shows Ternansky walking into the hallway and saying “Sí, sí señor. Ándale, ándale. Arriba, arriba.”It was not clear to whom he was speaking.Ternansky then turned to students and asked, “How do you say ‘quiet’ in Mexican?”` An unidentified student replied, giving an answer that can’t be clearly heard in the video.Ternansky then said, “Caliente? Huh? Help me. All I knew how to say was ‘Ándale, ándale, arriba, arriba.’ I don’t think that was — to be quiet? That’s like hurry up? Did I insult them?”
See the Instagram video below:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cjr01kxAE65/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
The university has published this statement:
Statement Regarding Professor Who Made Offensive and Hurtful CommentsUC San Diego officials were recently made aware of offensive and hurtful comments that a professor made in a chemistry class when video of the comments was posted to social media. At that time, the professor was engaged about his comments, and it was made clear to him that they do not reflect our community values of inclusivity and respect. The professor has since apologized to the students and will be doing so to others involved.As a reminder to our community, and as was shared with media outlets who inquired, UC San Diego is committed to the highest standards of civility and decency toward all. We are committed to promoting and supporting a community where all people can work and learn together in an atmosphere free of abusive or demeaning treatment.
Does this strike anyone as a bit of an overreaction?
Featured image via YouTube.
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