Blind Prophecy

Interesting story I ran across on CALI’s Pre-Law Blog. Apparently, a student is being punished for using hateful anti-gay comments in a professor evaluation.

Brian Beck, a landscape architecture major from Gordon, was found in violation of three University [of Georgia] Code of Conduct regulations in a decision announced last week by University Judiciary. Beck was found in violation of the code due to:

• Disruption of the teaching evaluation process
• On grounds of multiplicity
• Harassment based on presumed knowledge of the associate professor’s sexual orientation

As someone looking at going back into education environment, it’s startling to learn that the evaluation process for professors isn’t as anonymous as most of us would assume, and that there can be consequences for not taking it seriously and/or violating honor/ethics code standards.

In response to one of the end-of-term questions posed to the students, Beck wrote Beck wrote, “Joe Disponzio is a complete asshole. I hope he chokes on a dick, gets AIDS and dies. To hell with all gay teachers who are terrible with their jobs and try to fail students!”

Another comment read “Joe Disponzio needs help with his issues dealing with homosexuality. Fags are not cool and neither are ney [sic] yorkers.”

Disponzio initially brought the matter to appropriate deans in his department and the Student Affairs office, and he narrowed the suspect list (which student could have left the comments) until he identified which student he thought had left the comments by comparing exams.

After Beck returned to school in the fall, the University initiated judicial review, including bringing in a handwriting expert to confirm that the anonymous evaluation did belong to Beck.

Beck’s punishment includes writing a 1,200-word essay on how his remarks affect the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community and interact with a greater intolerance of the campus LGBT community, a letter of apology to Disponzio including constructive criticisms of his teaching style, and meeting with Michael Shutt, assistant dean of students, to discuss completion of SafeSpace training or other programs deemed appropriate.

Beck received a reprimand/warning and was told he is expected to follow University Conduct Regulations in the future.

Students and potential students beware, you are still bound by ethics codes and other expectations of behavior when filling out professorial evaluations. Don’t let anonymous fool you into thinking you can get away with being abusive. You might also want to note how easily the professor tracked down the offending student. If you don’t know whether a professor will see original handwritten comments, ask before you vent.

Filed under: law school, queer rights by Jere Keys