As time goes by, I am more and more convinced that the idiots are running the asylum. The worst part of it is that the “normal” folks are allowing it to happen and, in fact, are assisting in the destruction.
The latest example is that of 85-year-old chemist and professor Maitland Jones. He had a long – 40 year – and acclaimed career at Princeton University before he joined the faculty at NYU.
That was where he ran into a group of students who couldn’t hack the work of his Organic Chemistry classes and an administration that caved to student complaints.
In this case, 82 of his 350 students decided the course was too hard. They didn’t like the way he ran the classes, and, they said, he lacked empathy toward students. They signed an anonymous petition outlining their complaints to the administration and said that they wanted him fired.
And he was!
The president of NYU, Andrew D. Hamilton, was blunt in his assessment of the situation: “This professor was hired to teach this particular course, and wasn’t successful, that’s the sum of it.”
OK. We know where he stands.
Professor Jones said, “I don’t want my job back. I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.” He said he fears for other professors at the university who may face the same consequences.
Jones talked about the technical problems after the pandemic and the fact that students seemed not to be studying and often had a loss of focus. He was not the only professor to report on the poor conduct of students in classes and even instances of cheating.
The students’ main complaint against Jones was that the grades they received would not qualify them to enter medical school.
To assist them, he and two other professors taped 53 lectures for the students to use. Jones said says he used $5,000 of his own money to publish them, and they are still being used by students.
Apparently even that did not deter the students from their complaints.
There were parents who responded to the incident. Elicia Brand, is founder of the “Army of Parents,” which is dedicated to freedom and parental rights in education.
She didn’t mince words about the graduates of today. She said, “We are graduating idealistic young adults who are under-educated, easily offended and entitled.”
That seems to sum it up.
Considering that the cost of attending NYU for a year is nearly $78,000 – one would hope students would be educated and not pandered to.
Those NYU students were offended, felt entitled, and clearly, as seen in their grades, are undereducated. They are also cowards, as none of them had the courage to identify themselves as the complainers and face the professor directly.
I don’t know about you, but I certainly would not want one of them to be my doctor. I would hope they would not be admitted to medical school until they pulled up their grades and were more qualified.
Instead of firing professors like Jones, we should be hiring more like him to push students to reach their fullest potential. That should be the goal of the university – and given what they charge for students to be there for four or more years, students and their paying parents should get their money’s worth. It appears they are not.
Just because a student enrolls in college doesn’t mean he or she will graduate, regardless of what the family desires. Students must have the discipline to do the work and smart enough to learn the curriculum.
If they want to be doctors, they must have the brains and grit to learn what is required and not blame the professor if they fail.
As for the university, it must support the professors and not cave to the puerile demands of students.
As for NYU, my suggestion is to eliminate it from your list of possible schools for your children.
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