A professor at the University of Kansas was abruptly suspended by university officials after they had received a letter from five students saying that they found the professor's use of the "n-word" during a lecture to be offensive.
A professor at the University of Kansas was suspended by university administrators on Friday because five students took offense to her using the “n-word” during a lecture on race relations in America. White professor of communications, Andrea Quenette, 33, was immediately suspended after college officials received a letter from five students who were upset about her using the word in a lecture.
She was teaching a class of graduate students who were teachers that were teaching undergraduate classes. The class on racism was on the syllabus and Quenette was answering a question asked by one of students with regard to how they should handle racial diversity in the classrooms they teach in. She tried to get the students to understand that she was handicapped in that she has never really experienced racism. She said it wasn’t as if she had ever seen the word “n****r” spray painted on a wall somewhere.
The five students apparently took offense to this and demanded that the school fire her. They thought her remarks were what they called “aggressive racism.” The university’s knee jerk reaction was to suspend Quenette while the university continued to “investigate” the matter. There were nine students in Quenette’s class and only one of them was black.
Quenette said she apologized for the remark but wanted to bring home the fact that she has little direct experience with racism. She said that none of the students seemed upset. She continued the discussion and it was brought up by a student that maybe the low graduation rates among black students was so low because of organized and institutionalized racism toward students of color. Quenette replied that it has been her experience that low graduations rates are due to poor academic performance on the part of the students.
At the next class, students read statements about how that previous class had made them “feel.” After they read their “feelings” statements, they walked out of the classroom.
Quenette stated that she feels academic freedom protects what she said. She went on to say, “It was an open conversation about a serious issue that is affecting our campus, and it will affect our teachers. In that regard, I consider it my purview… to talk about those matters.”
