Cheyenne
Ms. Smarty Pantsless
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White student fights removal from ISU class
By STACI HUPP
Register Staff Writer
05/22/2002
Ames, Ia. - Jay Gardner and his professor agree that racism spoiled their Iowa State University journalism class this spring.
They disagree on who is at fault. They blame each other.
The professor, a black woman, banned Gardner, a white graduate student, from the class in February and compared him to a white supremacist. The university backed the professor.
Gardner is still fighting the decision, nearly two weeks after final
examinations.
The professor, Tracey Owens-Patton, complained that Gardner turned the class, "Ethnicity, Gender, Class and the Media," into a racial battleground, harassed her and kept other students from learning.
Gardner says he was defending against a constant anti-white attack because his classmates were afraid to. There's a difference, he said, between asking provocative questions and being a racist.
"If you're going to make claims that white America is intentionally
suppressing, holding down, oppressing African-Americans . . . you have to let some students give their opinions on it, and that wasn't happening," said Gardner, a New Jersey native who enrolled at ISU in January.
Gardner, 38, is part of a trend of white people in education who complain of discrimination, researchers say. Most cases involve white professors who who say minorities are favored in hiring or promotion, said Roger Clegg, spokesman at the Center for Equal Opportunity in Sterling, Va.
Attention fell on ISU's journalism school this month after at least one professor with seniority complained that inexperienced minority professors receive more perks, ISU leaders said.
In a letter to ISU officials, Owens-Patton said Gardner criticized a holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., among other complaints. She said Gardner defended racial profiling because "minorities do commit more crimes than whites."
Owens-Patton and ISU officials declined to be interviewed about Gardner's case, saying student discipline issues are private.
Gardner said the allegations were false, embellished or both.
ISU junior Megan Vance, one of Gardner's classmates, said his comments weren't offensive.
"He was just a student who would comment, and a lot of teachers would like more students to comment," said Vance, 22, of Le Mars.
Another classmate, Angela Mahaney, defended Owens-Patton.
"It was almost like he was trying to take control of the class with his comments so the professor couldn't get through the materials," said Mahaney, 22, who graduated this month.
Owens-Patton will remain on the journalism faculty this fall. Two other black professors have pursued jobs elsewhere.
ISU leaders have tried to lure and keep minorities since the state Board of Regents pressed for increased campus diversity more than 10 years ago. That doesn't mean minorities automatically win disputes, said Howard Shapiro, a vice provost.
Gardner was in the class about a month before he was told to leave. He filed a complaint against Owens-Patton, saying her class minimized freedom of speech.
The complaint was denied by the journalism school head, two college deans, a committee of faculty and graduate students, and the university provost. Gardner's last recourse is Gregory Geoffroy, ISU's president.
Overturning a professor's decision when a student is banned from a class is sometimes a moot point because a student complaint takes months to work through the university, Shapiro said. By then, a class might be over.
If the university sides with a student, ISU officials usually negotiate ways to give the student credit for the class, Shapiro said.
Gardner wants an apology from Owens-Patton.
He probably won't get one. Students rarely receive apologies from professors after a dispute, Shapiro said.
"Whose right it is to determine what is taught in the class and how it's conducted is the professors'," Shapiro said. "It's not a democracy. It's a classroom."
By STACI HUPP
Register Staff Writer
05/22/2002
Ames, Ia. - Jay Gardner and his professor agree that racism spoiled their Iowa State University journalism class this spring.
They disagree on who is at fault. They blame each other.
The professor, a black woman, banned Gardner, a white graduate student, from the class in February and compared him to a white supremacist. The university backed the professor.
Gardner is still fighting the decision, nearly two weeks after final
examinations.
The professor, Tracey Owens-Patton, complained that Gardner turned the class, "Ethnicity, Gender, Class and the Media," into a racial battleground, harassed her and kept other students from learning.
Gardner says he was defending against a constant anti-white attack because his classmates were afraid to. There's a difference, he said, between asking provocative questions and being a racist.
"If you're going to make claims that white America is intentionally
suppressing, holding down, oppressing African-Americans . . . you have to let some students give their opinions on it, and that wasn't happening," said Gardner, a New Jersey native who enrolled at ISU in January.
Gardner, 38, is part of a trend of white people in education who complain of discrimination, researchers say. Most cases involve white professors who who say minorities are favored in hiring or promotion, said Roger Clegg, spokesman at the Center for Equal Opportunity in Sterling, Va.
Attention fell on ISU's journalism school this month after at least one professor with seniority complained that inexperienced minority professors receive more perks, ISU leaders said.
In a letter to ISU officials, Owens-Patton said Gardner criticized a holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., among other complaints. She said Gardner defended racial profiling because "minorities do commit more crimes than whites."
Owens-Patton and ISU officials declined to be interviewed about Gardner's case, saying student discipline issues are private.
Gardner said the allegations were false, embellished or both.
ISU junior Megan Vance, one of Gardner's classmates, said his comments weren't offensive.
"He was just a student who would comment, and a lot of teachers would like more students to comment," said Vance, 22, of Le Mars.
Another classmate, Angela Mahaney, defended Owens-Patton.
"It was almost like he was trying to take control of the class with his comments so the professor couldn't get through the materials," said Mahaney, 22, who graduated this month.
Owens-Patton will remain on the journalism faculty this fall. Two other black professors have pursued jobs elsewhere.
ISU leaders have tried to lure and keep minorities since the state Board of Regents pressed for increased campus diversity more than 10 years ago. That doesn't mean minorities automatically win disputes, said Howard Shapiro, a vice provost.
Gardner was in the class about a month before he was told to leave. He filed a complaint against Owens-Patton, saying her class minimized freedom of speech.
The complaint was denied by the journalism school head, two college deans, a committee of faculty and graduate students, and the university provost. Gardner's last recourse is Gregory Geoffroy, ISU's president.
Overturning a professor's decision when a student is banned from a class is sometimes a moot point because a student complaint takes months to work through the university, Shapiro said. By then, a class might be over.
If the university sides with a student, ISU officials usually negotiate ways to give the student credit for the class, Shapiro said.
Gardner wants an apology from Owens-Patton.
He probably won't get one. Students rarely receive apologies from professors after a dispute, Shapiro said.
"Whose right it is to determine what is taught in the class and how it's conducted is the professors'," Shapiro said. "It's not a democracy. It's a classroom."
