A student asked UCLA accounting lecturer Gordon Klein for some sort of accommodation. What, exactly, is unclear, as the email seeking it hasn’t been fully disclosed, but Klein’s response has generated some extreme outrage, the university suspending him and police protecting him against threats of harm.
According to screenshots of the exchange shared with Inside Higher Ed, the group of students asked Klein for a “no-harm” final exam that could only benefit students’ grades, and for shortened exams and extended deadlines for final assignments and projects.
In light of recent “traumas, we have been placed in a position where we much choose between actively supporting our black classmates or focusing on finishing up our spring quarter,” the students wrote. “We believe that remaining neutral in times of injustice brings power to the oppressor and therefore staying silent is not an option.”
Theirs was “not a joint effort to get finals canceled for non-black students,” the self-identified allies wrote, “but rather an ask that you exercise compassion and leniency with black students in our major.”
It’s unclear whether the murder of George Floyd was too traumatic for the students to take a final, or whether their studying and taking finals would impair their desire to join in protests. Either way, Klein’s response was not taken well.
Thanks for your suggestion in your email below that I give black students special treatment, given the tragedy in Minnesota. Do you know the names of the classmates that are black? How can I identify them since we’ve been having online classes only? Are there any students that may be of mixed parentage, such as half black-half Asian? What do you suggest I do with respect to them? A full concession or just half? Also, do you have any idea if any students are from Minneapolis? I assume that they probably are especially devastated as well. I am thinking that a white student from there might be possibly even more devastated by this, especially because some might think that they’re racist even if they are not. My TA is from Minneapolis, so if you don’t know, I can probably ask her. Can you guide me on how you think I should achieve a “no-harm” outcome since our sole course grade is from a final exam only? One last thing strikes me: Remember that MLK famously said that people should not be evaluated based on the “color of their skin.” Do you think that your request would run afoul of MLK’s admonition? Thanks, G. Klein
To be fair, Klein’s reply was surprisingly snarky, particularly for someone who works for a university where anything shy of a hug and tummy rub is almost certain to evoke cries of anger. Acadia University lecturer Jeffrey Sachs called it “obnoxious,” while the students were a tad more concrete in their characterization.
We ask for your support in having Professor Klein’s professorship terminated for his extremely insensitive, dismissive, and woefully racist response to his students’ request for empathy and compassion during a time of civil unrest.
Or, as a college sophomore former Army Sergeant explained in a Critical Theory 101 lecture:
The email drips with contempt. It is unquestionably obnoxious. It was written with intent to dismiss the black student who asked the question, to make them feel small, stupid, lesser.
Fuck that guy.
FIRE has since taken up Klein’s cause, demanding that UCLA reinstate him rather than violate his First Amendment rights and academic freedom. But even if he is reinstated, will students accept his presence, no less his instruction, after being characterized as “extremely insensitive, dismissive, and woefully racist”?
On the one hand, Klein’s email was surprising given his position at UCLA. Was he unaware of the sensitivities of students in general, and during this time of heightened sensitivity in particular? Sure, the request for “empathy and compassion,” which sounds far warmer and fuzzier than a free pass on finals, might be ridiculous. They were no more traumatized by George Floyd’s murder than anyone else in America, and if they want to protest, that’s their right, but then they bear the consequences of their feelings of sadness, outrage and choice to march rather than study.
On the other hand, Klein could have certainly responded with a softer tone, a gentler hand, a more empathetic and compassionate “no.” But was that his duty, upon pain of being suspended, fired or having his house firebombed by his empathetic and compassionate charges?
Judson Jeffries, a professor of African American studies at Ohio State University, said students and professors alike have rightfully received accommodations during the COVID-19 outbreak and remote spring instruction. Now the country is experiencing another crisis that requires a similarly compassionate and common-sense response to all students, regardless of background, he said.
“This is not aeronautical engineering, this is not rocket science, for goodness’ sakes,” Jeffries said. “I would think that a thinking person would allow for certain accommodations.”
Accommodations for COVID-19 bear upon the health and safety of students. Pandemic, you know, which “a thinking person” would easily distinguish from feelings about George Floyd’s murder. But then, Jeffries isn’t a rocket scientist.
Indeed, he said, “if you’re interested in getting students’ best work, given what’s going on the in world, you’d say, ‘Let’s go and revise our schedule so that you can submit your best work.’”
There’s always something going on in the world. Is the pedagogy about making accommodations to get the students’ best work, or is it to get the students’ best work despite the fact that they will go through life with its myriad crises and still be required to perform their best work, their sensitive feelings notwithstanding?
But for Klein, the question is whether there is any future after this email. Was he annoyed by the inanely childish request for “empathy and compassion” and decided to use his position of power to dump on some powerless student, to make them(?) “feel small, stupid, lesser”? Is there any way for a prof to tell a student that their request is dumb and he’s not going along with it? Is there any future for a prof after the children grab their pitchforks?
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