From the issue dated March 14, 2003
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Seton Hall Adjunct Professor Lashes Out at Students in E-Mail MessageBy JEFFREY R. YOUNGAfter discovering that some of her students had used a public Web site to criticize her teaching abilities, her wardrobe, and other aspects of her appearance, an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University last fall fired off an e-mail message to her students, calling them "brats" and "lying sacks of [excrement]." University officials quickly sent an apology to students and said that the instructor, Mary Ann Swissler, would not be returning. Ms. Swissler, a freelance writer and editor who taught an introductory course for freshmen in the communication department, sent her message to students at the end of the fall term after reading scathing criticisms of her posted on Professor Performance.com, a Web site that lets students rate their professors while remaining anonymous. Many students gave the professor an F, with comments such as "by far the worst professor I've ever had" and "every day she comes to class wearing another blatant fashion emergency leading me to wonder if she gets dressed in a dark cave somewhere." A few of the students said she rarely gave tests or homework, and that her class was an "easy A." The incident first came to light in an account published last month in The Setonian, the student newspaper. Ms. Swissler said in her e-mail message to the students that such comments "confirmed to me what I had to keep to myself all semester: that most of you mental midgets are the most immature, sheltered, homophobic, sexist, racist, lying sacks of [excrement] I have ever met in my life." She added, "Seton Hall may be kissing you're [sic] asses now, but out here in the real world, brats like you will be eaten for breakfast." The chairman of the communication department, Peter Reader, quickly wrote an e-mail message apologizing to the students, said Robina Schepp, director of public relations for the university. Mr. Reader's message said: "I am an advocate of free speech and believe that we have the freedom to express our opinion as long as it is respectful to others.... Unfortunately, Professor Swissler was not. I am sure that many of you feel hurt by her words, as was I. You would think that someone who works professionally as she does would behave more responsibly and set a better example. However, please set aside her e-mail as a bad example of someone not thinking clearly and [do] not take it personally." Ms. Schepp said that Ms. Swissler would not return as an adjunct professor, but that "the decision not to bring her back had been made prior to the e-mail coming out." She added that the message by Ms. Swissler was "highly unusual and definitely unacceptable practice." Ms. Swissler said her e-mail message was in response not only to students' online comments about her, but to "abusive e-mails from students" throughout the semester. "The e-mail I sent was a last straw," she added. "It wasn't some knee-jerk reaction to some kids who hurt my feelings." Since her actions were reported, Ms. Swissler said, she has received several sympathetic messages from other adjunct professors. "It's not the most coherent thing I've ever written in my life," she said of the message, adding, "I don't know if I regret it or not. It almost had to be, after such a thankless effort. ... Any reasonable person would have had to respond. Do I have any regrets? Yes, I wish I had quit in September." http://chronicle.com Section: The Faculty Volume 49, Issue 27, Page A12
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Copyright © 2003 by The Chronicle of Higher Education