Dr. James P. Wickstrom
Politics
College: Fire professor who forced students to vote for Obama
02/18/2013
A tenured professor who forced her students
to sign pledges that they would vote for President Barack Obama last November should be fired, the college’s president recommended.
to sign pledges that they would vote for President Barack Obama last November should be fired, the college’s president recommended.
Sharon Sweet, an associate professor of mathematics at Brevard
Community College in Florida, is guilty of electioneering, harassment,
and incompetence, according to a three-month investigation into her
classroom behavior leading up to the November election.
The Board of Trustees will hold a hearing on the matter, and then
vote on whether to adopt President James Richey’s recommendation that
Sweet be fired.
According to a report on the investigation:
“Professor Sweet strongly encouraged or mandated that students from
several classes sign a pledge card that stated, ‘I pledge to vote for
President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket.’ She also
misrepresented her intentions to multiple students, indicating at
various times that she was conducting voter registration for the
college, that the pledge cards were non-partisan voter registration
forms, and that the pledge was a ‘statistical analysis.’”
In the eyes of the college, Sweet clearly created a hostile environment
for students, since many feared their grades would be affected if they
did not sign the pledge. She remains on paid leave until the board votes
to fire her.
for students, since many feared their grades would be affected if they
did not sign the pledge. She remains on paid leave until the board votes
to fire her.
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