Professor’s ‘xenophobic’ e-mail to student goes viral, prompting investigation in Ohio
A professor in the University of Cincinnati’s engineering department is under fire after sending a student a “xenophobic” and “racist” email regarding the student’s absence.
UC student Evan Sotzing posted the email response from his professor, John Ucker, on Twitter after emailing him his explanation on why he missed an in-person lab. As of Friday, the tweet has been liked over 124,000 times and retweeted over 27,000.
Sotzing explained to the instructor that his girlfriend had tested positive for the coronavirus and under the school’s health department instruction, had to forgo his in-person lab and quarantine.
“For students testing positive for the chinese (sic) virus, I will give no grade,” Ucker responded.
“My reaction? I was shocked at first that anyone in power or a professor would say that because of how xenophobic it is and how racist of a comment it is, especially to a student,” said Sotzing, according to WKRC.
The university’s official Twitter account responded to Sotzing’s tweet, saying that the email had come to the attention of the dean.
“We immediately looked into this matter on behalf of the student to ensure that our Return to Campus guidelines were followed,” said John Weidner, Dean of UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, according to Fox 19. “The adjunct instructor involved has a routine policy of allowing any student to forego one of the lab tests so that grade will not be recorded. Academic accommodations are necessary to safeguard the health and safety of our students, and faculty are encouraged to be flexible with attendance policies and other aspects supporting academic progress — particularly for students in isolation and quarantine.
“I have also referred this matter for review to our Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. These types of xenophobic comments and stigmatizations around location or ethnicity are more than troubling. We can better protect and care for all when we speak about COVID-19 with both accuracy and empathy — something we should all strive for.”
Sotzing told WKRC that the university can “deal with this issue as it sees fit,” but he would like an apology from the professor.
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Professor’s ‘xenophobic’ e-mail to student goes viral, prompting investigation in Ohio."