I am disappointed to be writing this post. I have held adjunct faculty positions at Texas Women’s University, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Texas at Dallas. I have also taught classes in the SAIL program at Collin College. I am shocked about the events at the University of Texas at Arlington. How can the University tolerate such bad behavior?

This is not about disagreements about the Hamas-Israeli War. Rather my post is about how students and a university administration should behave. Let me begin with what I believe the college and university experience should look like.

Students Attend College to Learn

In order to learn new ideas and gain new skills, students must listen. They should also engage in meaningful and respectful conversations with fellow students and faculty. They should be open to ideas and viewpoints that are new, different from their beliefs, and from various perspectives. They should learn how to differentiate between facts and fiction.

Students Attend College to Interact with People with Different Beliefs and Backgrounds

College can be a great place to meet people from different countries, who speak different languages, eat different food, and have different customs. We live in a global economy and students should embrace the opportunity to expand their geographic universe. This is also a chance to apply new information that alters biases and typecasting. Students who stick to their own little group miss this chance to become citizens of the world.

Students Should Learn to Respect the Ideas of Others

Simply put, this means engaging your ears before you engage your mouth. Respecting the views of others means listening to what they say without interruption. Bullying and browbeating someone who shares different views has no place on a college campus.

University Administrators Should Not Accept Outrageous Classroom Behavior

University administrators and faculty have a responsibility to educate their students. This education applies to classroom material and behavior. Students who show no respect for their professors do not belong on campus. They interfere with other students who are there to learn not to be intimidated. Students who do not understand this or respect the common rules of decency should not be allowed in the classroom. As far as I know, the University of Arlington has administered no punitive action on these students who verbally attacked their professor and other students. Shame on you. The lack of response opens the way to violence against other students and faculty. The university should be a “safe” place for the entire community.

University Administrators Should Not Gag Faculty

Putting all the blame on faculty members, especially those who are bold enough to host controversial subjects, destroys academic freedom and politicizes education. Catering to the desires of groups of students by creating a mountain of paperwork and approvals destroys the ability of the faculty to teach.

How Would I Handle the Situation?

If I was presiding over a classroom where a student would not let me teach, I would politely ask the student to stop interrupting, ask if they would like to talk to me in private, or ask them to leave the room so others could learn. I asked my wife, a former kindergarten teacher, how she would deal with the situation. She said she would remove the rest of the class from the offending student. In my case, she suggested that I end the class and dismiss the students. The offending student would lose his audience.

Consequences

Texas politics and open-carry gun legislation have already hurt state universities’ ability to attract students and faculty. What esteemed professor would want to teach at a school where the administration does not have his back? What student would want to attend a school where the administration fails to provide a safe learning environment?

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