If a Professor is Anti-Greek....
 

Good day, GCers.

An interesting situation has presented itself this semester with a professor on campus in a class that I am taking. This instructor is very vocal in his hatred about GLOs, calling us "cultists" and thinks that all "fraternity and sororities are nothing but cults" and uses a lot of the traditional stereotypes in his lectures, i.e. binge drinking, drug use, partying, hazing, etc. It borderlines on a strange obsession at times.

With a class of about 80 students, I estimate there are at least 30-40 Greeks in the class. No one is calling him out on his mis-information, as he is very strict in the class. This class is required of the particular major, so dropping is not an option for myself, and possibly many others.

One option that I thought of is that at the end of the semester, students can provide anonymous feedback, an "Instructor Evaluation" that is both itemized and there is a section for actually logging a written feedback. The instructors do not get this feedback till late in the next semester. Would it be proper to provide a professionally written feedback detailing this hateful rhetoric of this professor?

What would you do in this situation, or what have you done in the past with one of your professors that takes this road of GLO loathing?


Disclaimer: if this topic has been covered here before, please provide the link to the thread. Thanks.

Please, let's keep the discussion here professional and logical.

Yes, it would most certainly be proper and so would a well-placed word to the department head. The instructor has no right to go off on something at length that's unrelated to the class, especially if it's running people down.

I would keep my mouth shut and head down until after grades are posted, then voice my opinion through the appropriate channels. You're stuck in the class this semester, right? His commentary is inappropriate, but you still need a grade.

I think waiting until after the class is done is a great idea! I would document every single time that he has gone off on a tangent about GLO's so you have a solid claim. I would also suggest getting in contact with the other Greeks in the course as well, as there is always power in numbers. I hope that being Greek is not causing him to alter anyone's grades or anything discriminatory, because that leads to a different set of problems!

I would put it in the course evaluation. At least at my undergrad institution (haven't done any in grad yet), the prof can't see the evaluations until s/he's sent final grades out.

I would do ALL suggestions above:

1. Write up his behavior on the end-of-course evaluation, since he won't get these until next semester, it won't hurt your grade.

2. Document what he says. If you are allowed to record lectures, then I would start recording EVERY lecture he gives. That way you can show a pattern of behavior.

3. Take the recordings to the department chair. It would also help if every student in the class, greek or not, would go as a group to the department chair.

4. In the mean time, do keep your mouth shut. Don't say anything to him about his comments on greeks.

The only problem you may have is that if he is tenured, then it may be hard to really make any change for future students. And, if his department chair feels the same about greeks, then you will need to be prepared to take this to higher campus admins - the dean, provost, and president.

But, I'm sure that his department chair and other admins are aware of his behavior. If he is the kind of professor who is bringing in a lot of research money, and he has a lot of publications from your school, I'm betting that the admins won't do much to try to get him to change.

I'd also recommend, if you live in a one-party state (i.e. only one party need be consenting for a recording to be legal), recording a few of these rants. Digital voice recorders are small and concealable, if he also prohibits recording devices.

Please consider carefully, first, how much policy you're willing to except, because choices have consequences.

Don't wear letters to class, study hard and get good grades. Fill out evaluations accordingly when the time comes. Do not record without consent, and don't waste your time trying to make a "case" out of this with the administration. It's really not worth it.

It is certainly worth it. Students want to spend their hard-earned money in education, not being insulted. Should he next be allowed to make fun of the ag majors? Or the current-day version of the hippies? No, he should keep his mouth shut re: personal comments and educate his students.

Zeta Phi, if you want to wait until the course is over, that works--although you shouldn't have to put up with any more of it--and if his supervisor is reluctant to act, go to the next person up the chain and so on and so on. Of course, recording him and going to the supervisor in numbers should be the most effective if you can do that.

Good luck! I have no idea why it's supposedly okay to insult paying customers who are a captive audience.

As a professor, I agree with all of this. This is what anonymous course evaluations are for. There's no way your idenity will be revealed.

DO NOT record lectures without permission...this is explicitly forbidden in the student code of conduct on many campuses. Plus, then you'll likely lose your anonymity. If you make a big stink and out yourself, the professors in your major will label you as someone to watch out for...a loose cannon who secretly records profs and turns them in. People talk...even if they agree he's a goof, suddenly you're labeled as an upstart troublemaker.

Everyone probably already knows this guy is a goof.

If he was calling Catholics "Papists" and saying they are nothing but a cult that molests 8 year old boys, would your advice be the same? I completely agree with Carnation.

/hijack - tangent/


I have to disagree with this term. I know that this idea has crept into higher ed, but it is an erroneous way for students to think.

The idea that students are 'paying customers' implies that you can pay for what you want. That is to say, since students are paying, and they all want A's, then that is what they should be given - an A because they paid.

Students are paying for the opportunity to receive an education. The grade they get is the grade they earn through their efforts in the class. Not because they are 'paying customers'.

/end hijack - tangent/

I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that no one should pay to be educated and have to sit there and be insulted.

Oh, okay. :) That is true.

It depends on what they mean by it.

If they mean that they have a reasonable expectation that their professors will behave in a professional manner and maintain decorum in the classroom, in that sense, they are paying customers. I had a client, for example, who went to Southern in Baton Rouge. She had a professor there who would only show up to class when she felt like it and tell students that by having her job, she already "got hers."

It is not a privilege to be in a class with an unprofessional professor. It's a violation of the student's reasonable expectation that they'll get something worthwhile in exchange for their tuition money.

I would also encourage other members of GLOs in the class to complain on course evaluations about the behavior. I would make the complaint two pronged: 1) it's a stupid insult and 2) it's a waste of time. Encourage the students after you to make the same complaints in the course evaluations. It might take a few go-rounds for him to change his behavior.

I would not raise a stink with the dean or the department chair. It just isn't worth it to charge this hill. If he's tenured, you aren't going to win and the rest of your time in your major department is going to be unpleasant.

I agree with those who have advised you not to contact the dean/department chair. That will only make for uncomfortable experiences later on down the road. Especially if this prof teaches other classes you'll be required to take.

Regarding this comment:
Is he the only one who teaches this particular class? If not, be sure to advise your fellow Greek students to take the class under a different instructor. If enough students actively avoid this particular professor, the department scheduler will likely notice the trend. They may not have the authority to do anything about it, of course, but when someone notices these trends, they ultimately get addressed (without the students having to put themselves on the line).

What class is this anyway, where the professor feels the need to constantly discuss Greek life?

I'm just curious as to what could spur these rants about the "cult-like" nature of GLOs..

I am sure that you figured this out, but to add on to what adpiucf advised:

1. no letters
2. no obvious colors
3. no paraphenalia
4. no symbols, crest, etc

Just lay low & get through this class without giving him any reason to be critical of you. Hopefully you will not have to take any more classes from this professor. I know this will probably irritate the heck out of you, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Am I the only one who thinks the OP, rather than keep it low-key and avoid wearing letters, should instead get all the Greeks from her class together and get everyone to wear letters every day?

Not worth it.

Nope.

What about inviting him to your scholarship dinner/program/etc?

Sometimes it doesn't take things like wearing letters to get jerk professors to rant. I was the first undergrad woman in agriculture at my university. It was bad. At least twice weekly, professors would say or do something blatantly or meanly sexist. I could have just lain low and been quiet about it and left the mess for the next women in the major. I finally realized that someone was going to have to come out against it and that someone had to be me or else this would be going on for years with multiple professors who didn't think that women should be in ag.

Are you willing to leave the problem for the next Greeks in his class?

Additionally, I would recommend that if the university does a senior survey about the college experience as graduation approaches, to encourage seniors to note this again in the appropriate spot within that evaluation.

I don't know how other universities work with regards to this, but I know that at my alma mater, filling out the senior survey was required and they had a spot for us to evaluate a certain number of professors. I used that space mostly for positive evaluations, but also for a negative one for a professor I encountered who was really unprofessional. I had previously noted this in the professor's course evaluation, but I figured it couldn't hurt to put it there as well, especially since one of the purposes of this type survey is to improve the college experience for future generations.

I know this is a tangent, but I have to disagree with you here to a certain extent. I don't think that students are paying customers in terms of grades, but they are paying customers in terms of the type of education received.

Some students avoid professors who are thought to be weaker at teaching the material than others. Some students who seek out "easier" professors because they believe they will not have to work as hard to get a good grade. Some students pick a professor based on how that professor structures the class. Some students just don't care about these things. I do believe that in this way students certainly are paying customers.

I will also say that few of the best classes I took at college were small, graduate-level seminar classes in which the the professor took this idea further in the sense that students had some input on the topics to be discussed and possibly even other aspects of the syllabus. Obviously this idea is not practical for classes with a large student size, but I think it can work amazingly well if utilized properly.

From the student's perspective of "I paid for the class, therefore I should get the grade I want."

I'm referring to the student who feels entitled to have everything handed to him/her just because they want it, i.e., the Millennials and GYPSY kids. The one's who got a blue ribbon and trophy just for showing up - they didn't do anything to earn the award. They take that same attitude with them to the college classroom.

I mean the kids who played little league soccer where they didn't keep score because it would hurt the loosing team's feelings. :rolleyes:

True.

Thank you everyone. I will now go through and respond to any posts. This might take a while. LOL.

Yes, I am in this class for the rest of the semester.

As for altering grades based on their Greek affiliation, it would be hard to do as he uses Scantron forms for the test and only 1 paper. The paper is actually graded by him. Grades are posted and logged online via Blackboard.

I don't wear my letters to class, as I'm dressed business professional due to leaving for work afterwards.

I don't really want to record on the downlow either.

Perhaps this professor was rejected by GLOs and that is why there is so much defensiveness/hatred? Just trying to figure this one out.

I mean no disrespect, ma'am, but I do not wish to reveal the class, as some intrepid sleuth may discover secret identities.

I thought of this, too. I mean, why does he even care this much??

ZetaPhi, does the class have anything to do with this "topic?"

Uh, yeah, I'm a guy. LOL. But that is a brilliant idea.

That I do not know but it is a good theory.

Can you clarify "topic" please, ma'am?

Does the course relate to the topic of cults? History of secret societies? Student affairs (although I can't imagine a professor in that area being down on Greek life)? Social dynamics? Do his viewpoints relate to the course content, even if they're unpopular?

Just a small point of clarification ( and I apologize for not stating that originally ), I'm an alum of my fraternity and am working on my 2nd and 3rd degrees ( would an Associate's Degree count as the first? LOL ).

Oh, and to answer one other question earlier, Yes, I do have to take one more class with this professor; and I personally don't know any of the other Greeks in the class and no brothers of my fraternity are in the class, to the best of my knowledge. I do not know a lot of the current actives in my chapter.

I can state that no the first question, no to the second; sort of to the 3rd.

Since you have to take this prof again, and you're tentative enough to not want to share the course name/description here, I'd advise against do anything beyond commenting on the course evals, at this time.

None of like to see GLOs disparaged by those outside our organizations. But, he holds the power over you at this point, which I think you realize.

Personally, I don't see this in the same light as sexism, racism, etc. It's not discrimination -- it's a weird opinion we don't agree with. It sounds like he's given this some serious thought, and this is his opinion. If it has nothing to do with the class, you can really nail him on the course evals. I've heard lectures from professors who espouse vastly different opinions than mine. I can agree to disagree. That's what academic freedom protects.

I am troubled that the classroom climate discourages civil discourse, and no one feels comfortable speaking up.