College prof. target of stuttering student

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Elizabeth Snyder says she did nothing wrong by refusing to call on a stuttering student, calling herself the “victim of a character assassination.”

There’s nothing easy about teaching college.  The world of academe is fraught with hazards hidden from the public, but well known to professional educators.   Here is an example of what can happen to a likely well-meaning professor when she has the welfare of the whole class at the top of her list of priorities:

Snyder, a professor at a New Jersey community college, tells the New York Times that she’s “gotten the most hateful, vile, vicious emails” since it ran a front-page story Tuesday in which the stuttering student, Philip Garber Jr., accused her of “discrimination,” saying that she emailed him asking him to write out his questions and comments instead of speaking in class. “He seemed to want to answer every question,” Snyder explains. “You’d have to take into consideration the amount of time he takes to get an answer out.” But she says the email was only a suggestion, and that she told Garber she’d still call on him once per class.

In the article, Garber said he’d held his hand up an entire class and not been called on. Snyder says she didn’t call on anyone that day; she was giving a “detailed presentation.” She assumed Garber, who is in 10th grade, was “unfamiliar with the college lecture format,” adding that she thought it was “frankly a little rude” that he kept his hand up.

As a university professor who has been teaching brick and mortar classes for many years I understand the frustration of trying to be politically correct in a litigious environment.  I personally know two colleagues who got into hot water by being honest with students.  So, knowing what I know from reading the research, I’m with the teacher.  I suspect this student is trying to dig for gold….BM

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Bill Miller

A barnstormer from the backwoods of Missouri and damn proud of it.
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Toria C
12 years ago

I actually know Phil personally, as in he’s one of my best friends, and he’s tired of all this. Yeah, he doesn’t think it was cool that Snyder emailed him about not talking, especially since his stutter has *never* been a problem for him, but at this point the novelty has worn off, the news is old, and he just wants everything to blow over. He’s also *not* a gold digger. I spent all of last year’s Spanish class in a perpetual state of laughter because of him and he’s a genuinely awesome person. And not to be rude, but I’d advise you not to call people names, no matter how severe they are, unless you know the person. Also, keep in mind that this was something totally new to Phil. His whole life he’s been accepted by people and teachers who’ve always given him time to speak and now he’s thrown into a new environment and is told something different. How would you react?

Reply to  Toria C
12 years ago

Thanks for your thoughtful and compassionate comment. Phil is lucky to have a friend such as you. Have a wonderful week.

12 years ago

No good deed goes unpunished. Am I wrong in thinking that Snyder wanted to help all her students?

Sounds like she was trying to strike a balance between not trying to embarrass the student in class and allowing enough time to lecture for the other students.

What a world, what a world…

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