It’s fascinating to think about the people running colleges and universities because it feels as though the majority of those individuals are absolutely clueless as to what’s going on in the world outside their campus. In the current state of the world, using a gun analogy in any context is poor form. This university head not only used it in public but in front of a group of professors and in a discussion about how to deal with underperforming students.
He encouraged professors to drown them and put a gun to their heads.
When discussing a controversial plan to weed out freshman students who are underperforming at Mount St. Mary’s University, the new president of the school told a group of resistant professors, “This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies… put a Glock to their heads,” according to the campus newspaper, the Mountain Echo.
Simon Newman was reportedly discussing a strategy to dismiss 20 to 25 freshmen who the professors thought would be likely to drop out by the end of the academic year. By pushing out the students, Newman hoped to improve the Maryland school’s student retention numbers.
In other words, don’t help these students or go the extra mile to ensure they don’t fail out. Basically, fuck ’em. Take ’em out. This coming from the man in charge of running the university. If more evidence is needed as to just how out of touch Simon Newman with the world, here’s his comment to the Washington Post about the alleged incident.
“The inferences, the innuendo, it’s not accurate at all—the conclusions one would naturally draw from reading it,” Newman told The Washington Post. He admitted, however, that he didn’t remember his exact language. “I’ve probably done more swearing here than anyone else,” Newman added.
He thinks people are about about swearing.
Speaking of literal guns to the head, good luck on that new job search Simon.
[via Esquire]