CINCINNATI, Ohio—A University of Cincinnati professor is now on leave according to university officials, after a student accused him of giving him a zero for missing a lab because he was in quarantine, and calling the virus the “Chinese virus.”
What You Need To Know
- A UC student posted an email with his professor, accusing the professor of giving him a zero for not attending lab while he was in quarantine
- The tweet went on to say that the professor referred to COVID-19 as the ‘”Chinese virus”
- University officials say the adjunct professor is on paid leave and the incident is under review
University of Cincinnati Student Evan Sotzing shared the tweet Thursday night. The email screenshot says his professor gave him a zero after missing lab because he was told to quarantine. The tweet went on to accuse the professor of calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus.”
Sotzing says in the tweet that the University of Cincinnati Health Department instructed him to not attend his in-person lab after his girlfriend tested positive for the virus. Students say they were surprised to hear of the incident on social media based off of their experiences.
“We were shocked that something like that even happens here,” UC Sophomore Elijah Hoorman said. “It’s surprising that stuff like that even still happens.”
“As a student, I’m used to having good professors,” UC Senior Brittney Haas said. “I’ve had good experiences, but to see this is out of the norm and it’s disgusting.”
College officials say the adjunct professor for the College of Engineering and Applied Science is now on paid leave.
The college released this statement, saying in part: “The adjunct professor involved has a routine policy of allowing any student to forego one of the lab tests so that the grade will not be recorded. Academic accommodations are necessary to safeguard the health and safety of our students and faculty is encouraged to be flexible with attendance policies… We have also referred this matter to our Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. These types of xenophobic comments and stigmatizations around location or ethnicity are more than troubling.”
Some students say they agree.
“Calling it the Chinese virus, which is racist, so that doesn’t sit well with anyone,” said Hoorman.
Other students hope that the professor is soon taken off of paid leave and fired for his comments.
“I think he should be fired,” Haas said. “And I don’t think it should even be looked into. I think it’s just out of the question.”
The professor is currently under review with the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
