Paul Caron forwards a link from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
A tenured professor at the Widener University School of Law has been placed on administrative leave and is fighting to keep his job after students complained about his frequent hypothetical references in class to the school’s dean being shot, according to the News Journal of Wilmington, Del. The newspaper reported today that the students had complained about the professor, Lawrence Connell (right) partly because they regarded his hypothetical discussions of the shooting of Dean Linda L. Ammons, a black woman, as violent, racist, and sexist. Administrators there have responded by accusing the professor of a pattern of inappropriate speech and behavior. Mr. Connell’s lawyer says his client refused an offer by administrators to let him back on the campus if he recanted the statements that had offended students and underwent psychiatric evaluation. The lawyer accused Ms. Ammons of going after Mr. Connell because of his conservative views.
I'm all in favor of academic freedom, and generally think that students who are offended by classroom hypos simply need to get over yourself, but at some point it's incumbent on faculty to show the common sense God gave, say, I don't know, gravel. You don't single out colleagues--let alone your boss--for hypos, regardless of topic, but especially not as murder victims. It's just plain stupid. Throw in hot button issues like race and gender and you're just asking for trouble. It isn't the time or place to take a stand.