FAU Student Claims He Was Suspended For Refusing To Step On Jesus

[j-mac]

BOCA RATON (CBS4) – A student at Florida Atlantic University said he was unfairly suspended from his InterculturalCommunications class because he refused to step on Jesus.Ryan Rotella, a junior from Coral Springs, said the incident began when his professor, Dr. Deandre Poole, asked students in the class to write the word “Jesus” on a piece of paper, fold it up, and step on it.
Rotella, a deeply religious Mormon, told CBS12 that he was offended and refused to participate in the exercise.

FAU Student Claims He Was Suspended For Refusing To Step On Jesus « CBS Miami

Don't you just love how the CBS station here takes the side of the University in the headline?

More.....

A Florida Atlantic University student who filed a complaint against his professor after he was ordered to stomp on the name of Jesus has been brought up on academic charges by the school and may no longer attend class, according to documents obtained by Fox News.

You have got to be kidding here....What the heck is going on in these classrooms of supposed "higher education"?

The “Notice of Charges” against Ryan Rotela is contrary to a statement the university released late Friday night saying no one had been disciplined as a result of the classroom activity.
“We can confirm that no student has been expelled, suspended or disciplined by the university as a result of any activity that took place during this class,” the university said in a prepared statement.

How typical. Marxist educrats playing semantic games with the story to deflect, and distort their reprehensible actions thus far....

However, according to a letter written by Associate Dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela is facing a litany of charges – including an alleged violation of the student code of conduct, acts of verbal, written or physical abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.”

“In the interim, you may not attend class or contact any of the students involved in this matter – verbally or electronically – or by any other means,” Williams wrote to Rotela. “Please be advised that a Student Affairs hold may be placed on your records until final disposition of the complaint.”

University Takes Action to Punish Student | FOX News & Commentary: Todd Starnes

wow, what a little Nazi authoritarian this educrat view themselves as....Let's see, Marxist teacher wants to make a point about their own beliefs in atheism, So he/she devises a participatory exercise in making people do something that some may find wrong, even shocking, and when confronted by a student that refuses to participate in that exercise, Marxist teacher goes after the dissenter in true Alinsky fashion....

I don't know why anyone pays for this **** anymore....

Thoughts....

 

[HonestJoe]

Having read about this elsewhere, I can point out that the lesson (as written in the text book at least) has nothing to do with atheism. The demonstration is about the power of words and symbols.

There are clearly not enough details public to make a definitive statement (nor should there be). In general, a student should be free to refuse to actually carry out the demonstration and shouldn't suffer in any way for that. Equally though, that refusal should be made calmly and reasonably. Given the reported code of conduct charges, there is an accusation that he crossed that line at some point in the sequence of events (meaning he hasn't been disciplined yet and may well not be at all). Exactly when, how, why and indeed if that happened isn't at all clear.

Jumping to conclusions, throwing out terms like Marxist and Nazi is totally inappropriate given the lack of information. Ironically, it's the kind of knee-jerk reaction that can lead to cases like this in the first place.

Incidentally, the CBS headline you quote reads like a straight statement of facts. Maybe you perceive bias in it because neutral headlines are such a rarity in the media.

 

[Einzige]

It's like I'm really living in 1968 again, when men were men and backlashers took their politics seriously.

 

[clownboy]

So much is missing from that reporting it's difficult to tell on this. From the code of conduct complaint mentioned sounds like he did more than just refuse to participate.

 

[Rainman05]

This story may be false you know... I mean, it could be that he was punished for something else and he thinks this was the reason why.

Anyway, in case it is true. Well, most colleges and universities are useless and so all sort of idiotic professors are over there. Especially for what this kid was studying. Pro tip: Go study marketing, engineering, arhitecture, medicine, pharmacy, law, you know... things that actually have a good curriculum and none of the BS.

Here's a tip, any lecture that implies this kind of books:

Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach

is bad and useless.

 

[tererun]

Back in school I ended up not doing a number of assignments for far less meaningful reasons than some religious opposition. I was never suspended for not participating. I may have gotten a failing grade, but as far as I am aware no school suspends you for simply not doing an assignment. No, there is something more to this story. First, i do not trust the sources to provide news without some manipulation in order to make their story seem all the more horrible, while leaving out details that would look bad for the supposed victim. I sure do hope this kid pushes it. If the story is honest he deserves to be treated with respect. if it is not honest his attempt to push it way too far will only blow up when we find out what he truly did to get himself suspended. Given some of the reports we will probably find the kid likes to be a bully or was making some form of threat. It will be great for his future employers also because nothing says troublesome employee like an issue where a person blows something way out of proportion and tries to go over other people's heads because he is not satisfied. I don't know a single hiring manager who would want someone like that working for them. the kid should save his money and go be a missionary or something because he is really screwing his future employment prospects by making a huge issue out of this thing that will certainly blow up in his face.

I hope it won't look bad for you if something like that comes out. I would hate for you to have egg on your face because this kid lied or faux news made up a load of crap again.

 

[Dittohead not!]

an update on this bizarre story:

FAU apologizes after Jesus assignment sparks outrage

Florida Atlantic University has apologized for a class assignment in which students were asked to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper, and then throw it on the floor and stomp on it.

Instructor Deandre Poole's March 4 exercise in the Intercultural Communications class on the FAU Davie campus created a nationwide stir, with blogs and social media sites abuzz with complaints from critics who called it an affront to Christianity.

 

[j-mac]

an update on this bizarre story:

FAU apologizes after Jesus assignment sparks outrage

Thanks for that Ditto....Now to those that were jumping off saying that maybe the kid was a bully, or maybe the student acted out inappropriately or the like...What say you now that the University is apologizing for the assignment? I don't think if it were the students fault that the University would be apologizing....

 

[roughdraft274]

Don't you just love how the CBS station here takes the side of the University in the headline?

Because they put that it was a "claim"? That's extremely common. And btw, it's the mot honest heading that you could put until more evidence comes out showing that his claims are true. It's not saying it did or didn't happen, it's just reporting on the claim. That's completely unbiased reporting.

You have got to be kidding here....What the heck is going on in these classrooms of supposed "higher education"?

You're making an assumption that because this was done by one teacher it's a common thing. This is the first time I've ever heard of this. If you had millions of college kids every year having to do this, you'd be hearing about it before now.

How typical. Marxist educrats playing semantic games with the story to deflect, and distort their reprehensible actions thus far....


wow, what a little Nazi authoritarian this educrat view themselves as....Let's see, Marxist teacher wants to make a point about their own beliefs in atheism, So he/she devises a participatory exercise in making people do something that some may find wrong, even shocking, and when confronted by a student that refuses to participate in that exercise, Marxist teacher goes after the dissenter in true Alinsky fashion....

I don't know why anyone pays for this **** anymore....

Thoughts....

I think it's a stupid procedure if this actually happened, and if she was trying to make a point she could have very easily made the point with something else besides someone's religion included, but you are over reacting and jumping to conclusions without all the facts. Not to mention you are acting like this is a common occurrence. It's not.

 

[Dittohead not!]

Thanks for that Ditto....Now to those that were jumping off saying that maybe the kid was a bully, or maybe the student acted out inappropriately or the like...What say you now that the University is apologizing for the assignment? I don't think if it were the students fault that the University would be apologizing....

Obviously, the professor was wrong.

and now we have the anti education voices wanting to generalize his actions to the rest of the educational system. One idiot in the classroom makes the rest look bad, doesn't he?

In education, it is the 1% that makes the other 99% look bad. In politics, it is the 99% that makes that 1% look bad.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

So much is missing from that reporting it's difficult to tell on this. From the code of conduct complaint mentioned sounds like he did more than just refuse to participate.

Yeah - there aren't enough facts to form an opinion. Just what did he do and how did he complain?

I'm sure he's not the only student to ever not participate in the history of doing this so there's obviously something more to it.

 

[j-mac]

Because they put that it was a "claim"? That's extremely common. And btw, it's the mot honest heading that you could put until more evidence comes out showing that his claims are true. It's not saying it did or didn't happen, it's just reporting on the claim. That's completely unbiased reporting.

That's fair I suppose.

You're making an assumption that because this was done by one teacher it's a common thing. This is the first time I've ever heard of this. If you had millions of college kids every year having to do this, you'd be hearing about it before now.

How many similar individual stories like this do we have to see before we admit that there is a leftist bent in our education system that is hurting education by inducing political ideology into learning?

I think it's a stupid procedure if this actually happened, and if she was trying to make a point she could have very easily made the point with something else besides someone's religion included, but you are over reacting and jumping to conclusions without all the facts. Not to mention you are acting like this is a common occurrence. It's not.

It is not a matter of "if" it happened. The University already apologized for the exercise, so it happened.

 

[Jerry]

Thanks for that Ditto....Now to those that were jumping off saying that maybe the kid was a bully, or maybe the student acted out inappropriately or the like...What say you now that the University is apologizing for the assignment? I don't think if it were the students fault that the University would be apologizing....

I think it's the University playing the part of adult and putting the matter to rest.

Thismorning I felt a random lady cut me off in a buisy airport...I polightly '"oops sorry" and the earth spun on. That's what the university is doing here.

 

[j-mac]

Obviously, the professor was wrong.

and now we have the anti education voices wanting to generalize his actions to the rest of the educational system. One idiot in the classroom makes the rest look bad, doesn't he?

Are we sure it is "one idiot"? or is it a culture in education that views institutions of higher learning as a way to politically mold the individual above actually providing fields of learning? Also, I think the term "anti education" is toxic to actual conversation in this. That is a horrible label that uses a broad brush to paint those seeking to take the teachers personal politics out of the classroom, as someone who is against education. That is wrong.

 

[MaggieD]

Don't you just love how the CBS station here takes the side of the University in the headline?

More.....





You have got to be kidding here....What the heck is going on in these classrooms of supposed "higher education"?



How typical. Marxist educrats playing semantic games with the story to deflect, and distort their reprehensible actions thus far....



wow, what a little Nazi authoritarian this educrat view themselves as....Let's see, Marxist teacher wants to make a point about their own beliefs in atheism, So he/she devises a participatory exercise in making people do something that some may find wrong, even shocking, and when confronted by a student that refuses to participate in that exercise, Marxist teacher goes after the dissenter in true Alinsky fashion....

I don't know why anyone pays for this **** anymore....

Thoughts....

What is misleading about the headline? How is that "taking the side of the university"?

 

[Deuce]

That's fair I suppose.



How many similar individual stories like this do we have to see before we admit that there is a leftist bent in our education system that is hurting education by inducing political ideology into learning?



It is not a matter of "if" it happened. The University already apologized for the exercise, so it happened.

The plural of anecdote is not data. They don't report on the millions of students who aren't given ridiculous things like this to do.

 

[j-mac]

I think it's the University playing the part of adult and putting the matter to rest.

Thismorning I felt a random lady cut me off in a buisy airport...I polightly '"oops sorry" and the earth spun on. That's what the university is doing here.

Maybe, maybe not. I wasn't there, so I don't know. Or maybe the University knows that continuing to persecute this student for simply refusing to blaspheme his own religious beliefs is not a good fight to continue either in practical, or PR terms for the university....If that is the case I sure hope they have at least a good conference with the teacher involved and tell her to back off that type of volatile imagery based teaching.

 

[j-mac]

The plural of anecdote is not data. They don't report on the millions of students who aren't given ridiculous things like this to do.

I am glad that you consider the lesson in this case ridiculous...However, the anecdotal may not be conclusive, I don't think it is arguable that our education system at the university level is dominated by leftist on the political spectrum, and if no studies exist researching the effects of political ideology forced upon the curriculum then maybe there needs to be...I won't hold my breath though, it would be like asking someone to admit what they are doing is underhanded, and wrong.

 

[roughdraft274]

That's fair I suppose.

We agree on this. It was the only honest headline they could have used.

How many similar individual stories like this do we have to see before we admit that there is a leftist bent in our education system that is hurting education by inducing political ideology into learning?

Sorry but considering how many classrooms there are in countless colleges across the country, I'm not seeing nearly enough incidences for me t claim that there is some huge leftist lean being taught in our college classrooms. If you're just trying to point out that many professors are more liberal than the population as a whole, yes that's probably true, but that doesn't mean that the kids are getting a lousy or biased education out of it.

 

[j-mac]

What is misleading about the headline? How is that "taking the side of the university"?

Maybe I just read it with a biased eye....However, I thought the use of the word "Claims" lent an air that the student was lying here.

 

[MaggieD]

Maybe, maybe not. I wasn't there, so I don't know. Or maybe the University knows that continuing to persecute this student for simply refusing to blaspheme his own religious beliefs is not a good fight to continue either in practical, or PR terms for the university....If that is the case I sure hope they have at least a good conference with the teacher involved and tell her to back off that type of volatile imagery based teaching.

Actually, it was a good lesson. "The power of words. The power of symbols." The teacher just didn't teach it properly.

 

[MaggieD]

Maybe I just read it with a biased eye....However, I thought the use of the word "Claims" lent an air that the student was lying here.

Most likely he was, although we don't have enough information. If we believe the university, it had nothing to do with what happened in the classroom -- and everything to do with his behavior post-class.

 

[HonestJoe]

Thanks for that Ditto....Now to those that were jumping off saying that maybe the kid was a bully, or maybe the student acted out inappropriately or the like...What say you now that the University is apologizing for the assignment? I don't think if it were the students fault that the University would be apologizing....

I suspect the University is "apologising" because of the controversy rather than acknowledgement of any wrong-doing on it's part, like any big business would in a similar situation.

Anyway, even if it were deemed that the demonstration was inappropriate, that doesn't automatically mean the student responded appropriately to it. This really doesn't add any more factual information about the incident itself.

 

[MaggieD]

I suspect the University is "apologising" because of the controversy rather than acknowledgement of any wrong-doing on it's part, like any big business would in a similar situation.

Anyway, even if it were deemed that the demonstration was inappropriate, that doesn't automatically mean the student responded appropriately to it. This really doesn't add any more factual information about the incident itself.

I think it would have been more appropriate had the university apologized for the way the "lesson" was taught. There was nothing wrong with the lesson itself. We really don't have all the facts. As usual.

 

[LowDown]

Having read about this elsewhere, I can point out that the lesson (as written in the text book at least) has nothing to do with atheism. The demonstration is about the power of words and symbols.

There are clearly not enough details public to make a definitive statement (nor should there be). In general, a student should be free to refuse to actually carry out the demonstration and shouldn't suffer in any way for that. Equally though, that refusal should be made calmly and reasonably. Given the reported code of conduct charges, there is an accusation that he crossed that line at some point in the sequence of events (meaning he hasn't been disciplined yet and may well not be at all). Exactly when, how, why and indeed if that happened isn't at all clear.

Jumping to conclusions, throwing out terms like Marxist and Nazi is totally inappropriate given the lack of information. Ironically, it's the kind of knee-jerk reaction that can lead to cases like this in the first place.

Incidentally, the CBS headline you quote reads like a straight statement of facts. Maybe you perceive bias in it because neutral headlines are such a rarity in the media.

The trouble is that the school can't say anything about what happened because it's confidential according to the law. All they can do is issue general statements, so we don't know their side of the story at all.