Professor Who Called Students ‘Vectors of Disease’ in Video Is Suspended

[David Lockmiller]

(01-17-2022 04:47 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-17-2022 04:39 PM)GustD45 Wrote:  I'm not sure if what this professor was trying to do was a joke, but it was tasteless and quite apalling.

Agreed!

I apologize for the post that I made to the story. I did not view the video and was unaware of the vulgar language in the absolute extreme.

I thought that the professor, who was 74, was very genuinely concerned about his health and life. [I did not provide a hyperlink to the NYTimes story because of all the complaints that a hyperlink to NYTimes articles had been useless.]

The New York Times story contained the following additional information:

Ferris State University does not require its students to get a Covid-19 vaccine to attend classes.

Professor Mehler tells students that he is old enough to be their grandfather, and that if they care about their grandfather, they should stay away from him. But if they don’t care “whether Grandpa lives or dies, by all means, come to class.”

In short, I thought the story was about an elderly professor who had taught classes with much appreciation for 27 years but was now being required to teach in a life or death situation for himself.

Gene posted the hyperlink to the Washington Post story which reads in pertinent part:

Mehler is the latest example of a professor expressing concern about returning to in-person learning during spikes in the number of coronavirus cases. Professors in Georgia told The Post in September — when the delta variant sent cases in the United States soaring — that they were out of jobs after refusing to return to the classroom to teach.

Professor Mehler's response was EXTREME in vulgarity, and I believe needlessly so. But when one is given the "No Choice" choice by college administrators of teaching students not vaccinated or losing your employment permanently for refusing to do so at 74 years of age (and possibly in poor health), your options for complaint are few.