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. The âNotice of Chargesâ 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. âWe 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,â the university said in a prepared statement. However, according to a letter written by Associate Dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela is facing a litany of charges â 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.â âIn the interim, you may not attend class or contact any of the students involved in this matter â verbally or electronically â or by any other means,â Williams wrote to Rotela. âPlease be advised that a Student Affairs hold may be placed on your records until final disposition of the complaint.â Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at the Liberty Institute, told Fox News the universityâs behavior is âoutlandishâ and called their press release âinaccurate.â âWe believe the university punished him in retaliation for him exposing the class assignment to the public,â Sasser said. âSadly, it is a testimony to the indoctrination that some of the public schools and universities are engaging in â to demonize anything that was valuable in the culture.â The Liberty Institute wants Rotela reinstated with full credit for the course â along with an apology. âHeâs being punished because he told the professor to never do the assignment again because itâs offensive and that he was going to complain to the university,â he said. Rotela, a devout Mormon, ran afoul of the university after he refused to participate in a classroom assignment that involved writing the name âJesusâ on a piece of paper â and then stomping on it. The university initially defended the Christ-bashing lesson which is included textbook titled, âIntercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition.â Fox News obtained a synopsis of the lesson taught by Deandre Poole, who also happens to be vice chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party. âHave the students write the name JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper,â the lesson reads. âAsk the students to stand up and put the paper on the floor in front of them with the name facing up. Ask the students to think about it for a moment. After a brief period of silence instruct them to step on the paper. Most will hesitate. Ask why they canât step on the paper. Discuss the importance of symbols in culture.â The university issued an apology late Friday after a national uproar and said the exercise âwill not be used again.â Rotela told Fox News he was baffled by the universityâs latest statement. âThe university has a huge problem with integrity,â he said. âThey are tripping over their own words.â The âNotice of Chargesâ accused the student of using threatening language. The school did not return calls seeking clarification. Rotelaâs attorney said he believes the perceived threat came when Rotela told the teacher âdonât do that againâ â in reference to stomping on the paper. The student also told the instructor, âYouâll be hearing from me.â Florida Atlantic University also denied that anyone was forced to participate in the assignment. âContrary to some media reports, no students were forced to take part in the exercise; the instructor told all of the students in the class that they could choose whether or not to participate,â the university stated. Sasser said Rotelaâs case has generated national outrage and a number of high-profile attorneys have offered to volunteer their services. âThe textbook reveals the agenda,â he said. âSo-called intellectual enlightenment is stomping on everything that has held western civilization together for the past 2,000 years.â Paul Kengor, the executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College, told Fox News heâs not surprised by the classroom lesson. âThese are the new secular disciples of âdiversityâ and âtoleranceâ â empty buzzwords that make liberals and progressives feel good while they often refuse to tolerate and sometimes even assault traditional Christian and conservative beliefs,â Kengor said. Kengor said classes like the one at Florida Atlantic University demonstrate the contempt many public institutions hold for people of faith. âIt also reflects the rising confidence and aggression of the new secularists and atheists, especially at our sick and surreal modern universities,â he said. The university did not explain why students were only instructed to write the name of Jesus â and not the name of Mohammed or another religious figure. âGee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Mohammed,â Kengor wondered. Rotela told Fox News he has been overwhelmed by the support heâs received from Christians across the nation. âThe response and support I have gotten has been beautiful and uplifting,â he said. âI have never seen such a strong wave of Christians thank me for this. Looking back â the whole incident was one of the best and worst moments of my life.â http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarne...st-student-who-refused-to-stomp-on-jesus.html
Instead of wasting the students' time, why didn't they just hand out a list: Groups that can be mocked or attacked: Christians, white men, southerners, gun owners. Groups that must never be mentioned in a critical light: muslims, gays, blacks, non-cuban hispanics, women. criminals, welfare recipients.* *There is an exception if any of the protected group members are conservative. In that event harsh attacks and mocking are required.
The chickenshit university professors are scared of Muslims. They might get on a jihad list if they did something like that. It's a lot safer to attack Christians.
I'm not. Which reminds me. I saw somewhere last year I think where a female who had made numerous derogatory remarks about Muslim extremists. Had posted her address on the internet and essentially invited any of them to come retaliate. No one showed up. Oh, I should mention she included a photo of herself - ARMED with a firearm.
If that's the crap being taught today in our universities, it explains a lot of what's wrong in this society.
We may be overreacting a bit here. The teacher was trying to get the students to feel the same anger that muslims feel when their prophet is treated with disrespect. she apparently succeeded. The flaw in the exercise was she only went halfway. she should have demanded that the students riot, burn down the university, kill dozens of innocent students who weren't even in the class, then stone her to death. That way they could have really understood the full muslim experience.
Of course. American universities have become the brain-washing arm of the Leftists/Liberals/Communists. Any parent should have his head examined who allows his child to go to university to study anything except science. Otherwise, all the kid gets is Leftist brain washing. No wonder America's future is down the toilet...