I’m a little surprised Professor Barry Mehler of Ferris State hasn’t been brought up. (Or maybe I just didn’t see it.) He gave an outrageous introductory lecture for one of his classes, and it was enough to get him suspended by his university.
Maybe a little too over-the-top, but I thought it was one of the funniest and most entertaining lectures I’ve ever seen.
Original lecture -
Response to suspension -
I thought it was pretty funny too,although I didnt care for the excessive profanity. But beats my boring class welcome video for sure!
He has a reputation in the university for being unconventional. So I dont think it was a big surprise for the administration. He only had one semester to retirement. Administration could have just let it go with some fluff statement that sounds serious. They’re good at that. College administrators dont always pick the right battles to fight.
I just read he has filed a lawsuit against the university.
Complete waste of time.
Wow, I wish I’d had a professor that entertaining while I was in college. This guy will make students want to enroll in his class. Too bad they suspended him. I hope he is reinstated.
I thought it was meant to be funny as well and did find it entertaining (but at the same time found the term he used to refer to his students offensive), but apparently he was serious about everything- including just randomly assigning grades? I don’t really think it’s wise to publicly tell your employer to F off and announce that you can get away with anything you want because you’re tenured and have a semester left. That’s the kind of roast you save for your final lecture or your retirement party.
Here’s a lengthy write up of the story on the FIRE website. FIRE has provided him with an attorney through its Faculty Legal Defense Fund. Ferris State cannot punish professor for comedic — and now viral — video jokingly referring to students as ‘cocksuckers’ and ‘vectors of disease’
(Is there a way to paste the link without it showing a certain vulgar word? I don’t want to violate any rules but it’s a very thorough discussion of the issues.)
If this is true, I can see why they sent him packing. Otherwise, it’s a bit odd.
If you watch the “response” video he explains the random grade thing (spoiler alert: he does not assign random grades).
What made the lecture effective was that while you highly suspected it was a performance, you couldn’t be totally sure. The only thing I really objected to was his profanity, but I guess public use of profanity has become the norm these days, which many of us old folks find unfortunate.
It was not acceptable, period. I don’t care if he was trying to be funny. There are a lot of things people find funny that are not appropriate in every situation.
If you’re interested in the detailed letter that Mehler’s attorney wrote to the university, which explains a lot of background facts, you can find it here: Letter from Attorney Matthew Hoffer to Ferris State University, January 18, 2022 | The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
It’s definitely worth reading because it demonstrates that going back to at least 2014 the administration was very familiar with Mehler’s Deadwood parody, use of profanity, joking threat of Calvinist grading, etc., and had no issue with it until the video went viral.
This is why there is tenure.
Not really. Tenure was designed to protect academic freedom of thought and expression of serious ideas and philosophy, not profanity, comedy, or general obnoxiousness.
He certainly caught the attention of all. Students would clamor to get into a class with a prof like that. No, it wasn’t professional. But was it effective? Absolutely. If his goal to engage students, I think it was mission accomplished.
Students did clamor to get into his classes. From Mehler’s attorney’s letter:
Here, Mehler was simply offering a short introduction to his courses, and he undoubtedly has
wide discretion to do so in the manner of his choosing. He decided to take what might
normally be a dull, tedious review of class rules and policies and instead convey that
information through a dramatic performance or “show” that would entertain and amuse his
students—a routine he apparently has performed for years without incident. No reasonable
person could watch Mehler’s full video and come away thinking he was actually insulting or
harassing his students, or that comments he made about grading and the attendance policy
were meant to be taken seriously.
Mehler’s comments about grading his students according to the Calvinist doctrine of
predestination were obviously tongue-in-cheek and satirical, poking fun at the doctrine. At
two other points in the same video, Mehler spoke about how students could earn an A,
rendering frivolous any argument that he was serious about assigning students grades
randomly. Mehler’s Deadwood-inspired soliloquy had the clear pedagogical purpose of
warning students in an entertaining way about plagiarism and proper citation. And no less
protected were Mehler’s comments at the end of the video about COVID-19 and attendance.
Mehler’s tone and presentation throughout the entire video—right from the beginning when
he took a space helmet off of his head and pretended he was arriving from another planet—
made it obvious that he was performing and playing characters, not sincerely berating his
students, telling them they would all fail, or prohibiting them from coming to class. And
apparently students took Mehler’s video the way it was intended, as his first in-person classes were full of students.
Mehler’s use of profanity does not cause his speech to lose First Amendment protection. He
did not use profanity in an abusive manner. Again, the context of the video makes clear that
Mehler was not using profane language to actually insult his students or others, but rather as part of a lighthearted performance to boost the entertainment value of a syllabus day lecture
that might otherwise put students to sleep. To be sure, some may find Mehler’s style offensive or obnoxious, but that is not enough to render his speech unprotected. A diverse faculty body is bound to result in diverse teaching styles, and no instructor has an obligation to conform to a prim and proper method of teaching.
He was a public employee, and thus expected to show professionalism in his conduct. Apparently his supervisors did not think his conduct met that bar.
If you read the full letter, you’ll see that his supervisors DID think his conduct met the bar and they gave him merit raises and praise until the video went viral when they suddenly changed their minds.
Fair enough. Maybe the taxpayers or state legislature questioned college administrators on whether this conduct was appropriate for a public employee, or if other employees should also be allowed to engage in similar conduct outside the university. All valid questions.
This guy must have taken his playbook from two profs I had at Michigan in the 70’s. Beloved teachers, classes full, profanity hilarious, and lessons deeply learned.
Nothing to see here IMO. My helmet’s off to him.
50 years ago was a very different time. Colleges were much less concerned about sensitive students, possible offensiveness, policing speech in general-for better or worse, the context has changed enormously.