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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To be fair, Klein’s reply was surprisingly …accurate! He asked logical questions to define the boundaries of what the student was asking him. I hope he sues the University for unfair dismissal, just to drive home the way feelz have destroyed thinking!
With 3 people killed by police per day, I can’t see any spare time to study at all.
I have a feeling the Chinese will win the world and America self-destruct..
There are many “accurate” things that could be phrased well or poorly. For example, I could tell you that you are a blithering idiot or that you might lack the sensitivity of young people these days. And why do you love the Chinese communists so much?
Sometimes you feel like a Klein, sometimes you don’t!
Boss, the only time I’ve been to America is 4hrs at LAX waiting for the next flight. All my experiences of it are from what I read in the 5-EYES countries.
But looking at it overall from a distance, I’m horrified at how fast it has gone downhill since the 1980s. Now a whole generation or two have attitudes that will not support a world-leading country and there seems to be no way to change that.
But… everyone tells me I’m a blithering idiot when I tell them that.
Do you ever think you tend to be a bit hyperbolic. Just like the kids scream “everything is HORRIBLE,” do you tend to do the same thing?
Not faculty, but I do deal with students every day. I have to admit that there have been many a day that I have wanted to respond to an email in exactly the tone or way that Klein did. But, I put on my big boy pants, thought things through, and answered like an adult.
It was also an unhelpful response that did a real disservice to everyone. Firing him for it is harsh, but there should be consequences of some sort. Make him sit through one of those diversity training sessions admin have to sit through and faculty usually don’t. Trust me those are punishment.
You raise (unintentionally) an interesting question: Are you putting on your “big boy pants” or your “treat students like vacuous infants to avoid the backlash” pants?
Sometimes I amaze myself with my hidden brilliance….
Faculty are not just responsible for teaching their topic. They should be also in the business of getting students ready to participate in the “real world”. They like to say they are even if they don’t act like it.
His response was, in my mind, as unprofessional as the initial question from the students. I guess where I was going was be the bigger man/woman and give the students the answer you want to give in a way that does not make you look like he did.
This is not to say I don’t agree with his sentiment. He is right. We pander and give in to the dumbest shit in higher ed. There are just better ways to go about responding.
Is there a way he could have made his point without pandering, or must everything be the compliment sandwich?
That was a rhetorical question, right?
“You have asked specifically for special treatment of some students based on race. This is a bad idea for multiple reasons, both fundamental and practical…”
I do like that Prof. Jeffries argues that in some fields, testing for competence is more important than in others. I suspect that opinions may differ on where accounting falls.
It’s said that god answers all questions. Sometimes the answer is “no.” If it’s good enough for god, why isn’t it good enough for a lecturer?
Yeah say “no”. If the students asks for a reason tell them you have to follow university guidelines and there have been none given at this time.
No compliments and no pandering. Maybe some deflection….
The guy who refers to “the black student who asked the question” doesn’t get it. No black students asked for this bullshit. This was performative virtue-signalling by students who “identified” as “nonblack allies,” and who patronizingly assumed black students would need these special accommodations.
Silence is complicity, shitlord.
The supreme irony is that UCLA completely missed the actual racism, which lies with the students who made the request. Yet it is the professor who is getting death threats.
Thank you for this – there is a really nasty strain of paternalism that is rampant through all leftist dogma – I know what’s best for the disadvantaged, I know I can study and pass my test, but those poor POC students just can’t hack it. It’s their unconscious bias that they’ll never call themselves out on. The tyranny of low expectations. Scary to think they will be the next generation of leaders, carrying their pinko books and wearing their pinko scarves.
Pinko? Very old school, Archie.
Trying to bring it back, thought this would be an appropriate audience to test it on. Hope the proprietor approves.
Not really. This is a lawyer audience, not reddit.
Props to Klein on the snark. Probably wasn’t worth it in the end, but it’s fun to see academics respond so negatively to simple sentences and plain language.
Besides bowing to his students, I doubt there was any way he could have escaped the situation without being labeled a racist. A simple, “no”, just wouldn’t have done enough to demonstrate that he is totally not a racist. Any explanation that didn’t give the students what they wanted wouldn’t have taken into account all their lived experiences. There was no way out, and apparently there’s no place for Klein in the new academic world.
God help the kiddies when they receive an angry, terse lawyer letter telling them they done screwed up and have to pay up. “You hurt my feelings” isn’t a defense yet.
Or from a client telling them We have this shareholder’s meeting/business valuation appraisal for a buy proposal/tax return/IRS audit/angry, terse white collar defense attorney fighting an AG subpoena/pick the problem and your problems are flyspecks. If you can’t take care of business another accountant will. For a price of course. Which is fine.
Welcome to life. Take the exam.
You gave a good example of big boy pants by quoting Treehugger:
https://blog.simplejustice.us/2017/05/08/at-duke-the-divine-and-the-sublime/
A good start toward finding the teachable moment would have been for Professor Klein to explain how watering down the final would make the students less prepared. However, I am at a loss to know where to go from there.
As my mom likes to say, “if you can’t say no, then it isn’t really a question.”
Do you think that there was a good faith way to just say “no” to a student like this? I am not sure.
If only you used your wheelhouse to whittle some wit, after the aggregation and commentary…
I bet it takes you an equal amount of time to come up with a headline?
You need an editor, not that kind of editor.
P.S. I want to text search your archive in a python program I will write via 250 or so words/phrases within your cogent archive and package some concise. Thus Oh yeah!
Don’t be a fucking prideful pussy without pie.
It sounds like the letter was coming from non-black students who wanted to support their black classmates in protests without suffering academic repercussions.
He ought to have pointed out that, by doing badly on the course, they could be giving a competitive edge to black classmates to edge them out in grad school applications, scholarships, internships, etc. Maybe if they do it enough they can hand those classmates a competitive advantage on the job market. Later in life they might face the choice, as many others have before, to keep their kids in a struggling school with many minority students and fight the good fight, or bail and transfer them (and their money) to another that’s higher-performing but less diverse.
They say they’re forced to choose, and so they are. So choose. Whoever told them choosing was going to be painless?
Anonymous Drill Sargent.
“Some people need to be hit with a clue by four. Sometimes, no matter how often or how hard you hit them, they will never understand.”
Some Other Anonymous Drill Sargent:
[In response to a new recruit who mis-characterized a vehicle, while making said recruit deaf in one ear]