FAU student threatens to kill professor and classmates
By Rachel Chapnick
Associate Professor Stephen M. Kajiura was reviewing with his evolution class in GS 120 for a midterm when FAU student Jonatha Carr interrupted him: “How does evolution kill black people?” she asked. Kajiura attempted to explain that evolution doesn’t kill anyone.
And then, Carr became violent.
A fellow classmate, Rachel Bustamante, was sitting behind Carr prior to her outburst and noticed she had been avoiding looking at the professor until 11:35 a.m. — that’s when she snapped. The classmate reported that Kajiura was discussing attraction between peacocks when Carr raised her hand to ask her question about evolution. She asked it four times, and became increasingly upset each time Kajiura’s answer failed to satisfy her.
A video taken by Bustamante shows Carr ranting and threatening to kill the professor and several students. At this point, the witness who contacted the police claimed, “No one was comfortable in the room. I realized the situation was escalating and went out to call the police.” Seconds later, Carr walked down an aisle of the classroom and slammed the palm of her hand into the forehead of a male student.
Kajiura stayed in the room, trying to keep the class calm, while a few students stepped out to call police. “She became increasingly belligerent,” he said. “It was at this point, a highly emotionally charged individual who was no longer capable of responding rationally. She was threatening to kill both me and the students in the class.”
from Anthro Girl:
Most of the courses my colleagues and I teach require discussion of evolution. One prof at FAU had a student completely flip out and threaten to kill him and other students. After watching the video, and as a still relatively new teacher, I'm not sure I would know how to handle a situation like that.
Q: Have you ever had a student completely flip out like this in class? How did (or would) you handle this kind of situation?
Get 2 guys, pin her ass to the ground, and wait for police to cart her away for an involuntary psych eval.
ReplyDeleteMercifully, I've never experienced it myself. I saw it once at a public lecture by Stephen Jay Gould back when I was an undergrad. It was an elderly woman, but otherwise had the same hallmarks. Gould was talking about the evolution of wings, and the woman began demanding to know why children were starving in Africa. Same lack of connection to the material being addressed. Same angry irrational repetition. Same exeunt with security guards (minus the tasers and cell phone videos).
ReplyDeleteAt Tuk U, I hear that the problem has been encountered occasionally in classes that touch on evolution in the context of human issues (like psych or medicine). To their credit, the Admins have issued a statement supporting that evolution (and other theories that run afoul of Ancient Texts and Teachings) will be taught and students can question ideas, but not disrupt the teaching.
I thought the instructor handled it pretty well. He stayed calm and did not try to use force. After the incident was over, he tried to continue the class, for the benefit of those who were able to settle down and pay attention.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing more he could have done is specifically instruct a student to call 911; but apparently several students did that on their own before very long.
I did have an experience like this while teaching Hamster Development in a large lecture hall at a major metropolitan university.
ReplyDeleteThe subject was nothing particularly controversial, but there was a student sitting dead center of the room who appeared as if he had something to say, so I called on him. He initially demurred, but he really seemed like something was on his mind, so I pressed .. and then he snapped. He launched on a tirade about how nothing he could say would matter as I would just correct him, blah, blah, blah.
Fortunately, nothing more came of it. Now, I am not a particularly frail looking individual -- a Masculine American, 6'0", 220 pounds -- still I was seriously rattled, called for a break and this student, thankfully did not return that day. After catching my breath, I quietly inquired of an older student with whom I had conversed before, if she had seen/heard anything that could have justified the other student's outburst. She was just as stunned as I.
Truly a contingent (and itinerant) faculty member at the time, I had no clue about any university resources available to me. Since that day, I have made sure I know what the institution's policy is and kept campus police on speed dial.
My only comment would echo that of introvert, early on he should have clearly stated that student was being disruptive and either needed to ask questions in a calm manner or leave [maybe he did, his talking wasn't picked up an the audio]; with a lack of suitable response, he then should have loudly requested a student call security and 911 while continuing to try and talk the student down. The situation dragged on far too long. Otherwise, he did the right thing by continuing to stand at the front of the classroom, rather than leave the room.
ReplyDeleteAs a TA I once had a lab where a student snapped on another student, and unthinkingly I jumped right in between the two of them, got right up in the student's face [I was still a lean, mean badass mofo at the time...] and told him to get out of the classroom THIS INSTANT and I would speak with him outside. I'm not sure I'd react the same way again (i.e. immediately without any thought or planning of what to do next).
I had a student who went beserk after I caught her cheating. I asked for her test and cheat sheet, which she reluctantly gave me and I asked her to leave. She followed me back to the front of the class and would not leave the classroom. She continued to berate me for accusing her of cheating because I obviously did not like her. I called campus police after 10 minutes and she was removed from the class. After she complained to the powers that be, she was promptly rewarded by being switched into another section. The customer is always right!
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm a Ph.D. student and I'll be teaching my first class in the fall. These sorts of things make me drift further toward the goal of private industry upon graduation rather than academia; though, I imagine it's very rare for these things to happen. Still, what with the cheating, complaining about grades, and other negatives is the freedom of research & mentoring great students really worth it? I need some seasoned advice. Thanks.
ReplyDeletePeople snap in industry too.
DeleteI'm sure you're right. I suppose it's just learning how to handle the situation then. Perhaps giving into their delusion by justifying what they're saying to them while simultaneously having someone call the police is the best route.
DeletePeople snap everywhere, but as instructors we work with a large number of people, and we can't control who comes into our classroom. If you work in an office, you maybe have 12 or 20 or 40 coworkers on your floor, and many of those people work there for years on end. As a teacher, I teach 150+ students each year. I'm surprised that only a few of them are unstable.
DeleteUm... when I lived and worked in another town nearby, this happened at least once a term. Often not as off-topic or as wildly violent, but the yelling and screaming....at least once a term, usually about a bad grade or when scolded for talking in class or told to leave for being disruptive.
DeleteNever had anything like this happen in a classroom, but I did have a student lose his shit in my office hours. After documenting everything and consulting with my department beforehand, I recommended that he withdraw from the class (as of midterms he had attended only two classes and hadn't turned in a single assignment), and he promptly responded by shouting and getting all menacing. I calmly asked him to leave my office a few times. He refused to leave and became increasingly threatening. I then told him that I was going to call the campus police. But this was the best part: I had an office mate, and instead of calling security for me, she said to me, "Sounds like you guys are having a hard time agreeing about this. I think you two should just go to the department office together--they'll help you work this out!" Because that's what you should do with a student who's threatening to hurt you--walk down to the office together. It was a gorgeously undermining gesture that did nothing to defuse the situation.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's why instructors and TAs need to be told what to do in these situations--and that making threats is illegal and not something to diddle around with.
I, too, would have wanted her to call the cops, but, especially if you're alone, it strikes me that walking out of your office, where you're isolated, might actually be a good move, and a far better way to get the student to leave the office than telling him/her to do so. At the very least, you get yourself into a more public place, and within closer reach of assistance. More likely than not, you get both of you into a more public place, which, unless you think the student has a weapon and might start shooting indiscriminately, is also to the good. Others may have other takes, but my sense is that you're generally safer with more people around (at least it increases the chances that one of them will have the good sense to do something helpful, like call the cops).
Delete@Contingent Cassandra: That is ultimately what I did. I turned to the student and said, "Come on, let's go see Department Head XXX about this. We'll see what he has to say" and then began to act like I was leaving the room. When I did that, the student decided he would rather leave the building than involve another authority.
DeleteI guess my problem with the fellow grad student was that she didn't really take the situation seriously. When she stepped in, she did only to say things that were very undermining, implying that I was blowing the situation out of proportion and just needed to see things from the student's perspective. Maybe that would have been a good technique with another situation, but in mine, it served to fuel the student's self-righteous anger and entitlement.
Unlike the student in the video, mine was less unhinged and more a pathological narcissist. Like "I pay your salary, now you better earn it!" I actually just googled him to find out that he was recently in some trouble for forgery and election fraud. Can't say I'm surprised.
Yes, several times. I'm not exaggerating. I've never had a student harm another student in class, though. (The woman at FAU struck another student in the forehead.)
ReplyDeleteEvery time this happens--and I know it will happen again--I warn the student ONCE that I'm calling public safety. When a student does not leave as requested--and they never do--then I call public safety immediately. Public safety always arrives within a matter of moments. The scene at FAU went on far longer than it would have at LD3C, at least in my classroom.
Wow, Greta. It sounds like you've really got the routine down pat. I'm in awe -- and also feel for you.
DeleteGood for you, Greta. I used to enjoy being a real-life Indiana Jones, but I'm getting too old for this nonsense. It was never in my job description.
DeleteMy concern for a student that is clearly unbalanced (or merely disruptive) never outweighs my concern for the safety of the other students in that room or for my own personal safety. Additionally, I'm there to teach--and the other students in the room are there to learn. I don't have time for that nonsense.
DeleteI've never had this happen, but I, too, think the professor handled it pretty well (maybe not quite quickly enough, but I don't think I'd be any quicker; honestly, thinking quickly on your feet isn't necessarily one of the skills required for or developed by earning a Ph.D., though perhaps it should be). And I have some cell-phone-programming to do (though given my record so far on finding my cell phone in my backpack and answering it before it goes to voice mail the few times it has actually rung, I think I'd be better off asking a student to call 911, since their phones seem to be much more to the ready, and they are far more practiced in using them).
ReplyDeleteNot to sidetrack the discussion, but I also find myself wondering how this incident would have come out if either the professor or any of the students had had (or even could legally have been carrying) a gun, as some in my state are advocating. Also, what would have happened if the student were larger, and male (and still black -- or white, or Asian. Jared Loughner and Seung Hui Cho were, after all, not particularly physically imposing/threatening, nor did they fit most people's stereotypical image of a criminal/possible trouble-maker, but they had, and used, weapons). It appears that Carr become about as physically violent as she is capable of being, but the consequences (to bystanders, and hence, I think, to her) were limited by the fact that she had limited physical power, and neither she nor anyone else present (at least at the beginning of the episode) had a lethal weapon. In this case, that seems to have been a good thing; despite a pretty charged atmosphere (in the country as a whole, and in Florida and on US campuses in particular), everybody came out of this alive and relatively unscathed, with Carr, who clearly needs psychiatric help, getting it. For all that it must have been a hard day for the professor (and the students, and the campus cops), that's a happy ending, and I'm very, very glad to see it.
She didn't have a taser or knife and nobody else drew a weapon in response (except campus security later) so it's unlikely that allowing guns on campus would have made much of a difference.
DeleteI think it would have made a difference (and this may be what Contingent Cassandra is getting at): if guns were allowed on campus, it's possible that a fellow student or a faculty/staff member would have shot her out of panic, despite the fact that she was unarmed.
DeleteIf you're carrying a gun legally then usually you're a pretty responsible person and have to be > 21 y/o. Doubt there would be a "panic shooter". But FYI someone doesn't necessarily have to have a weapon to be considered lethally dangerous.
Delete"I taze first, ask questions later." It's the next item I'm adding to my syllabus.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking of going with "If I have to shoot you, that's an automatic F".
DeleteNicely put.
DeleteI always have security on speed dial. I've never had an emergent situation, but it makes me feel better.
ReplyDeleteI have a colleague now with a heart condition, and he "requires" each student to put the campus safety officer phone number in their phones in case he "goes down."
I've had this happen in a class where two students started to shout at each other, but my intervention stopped it from escalating. They were not as irrational as this individual and were able to calm down after I jumped between them (not always a good idea) to stop them from shouting.
ReplyDeleteTwice in my office (in recent years), students became belligerent and refused to allow me to leave by blocking me in to my office (one guy had brain damage from an accident and the other was diagnosed with Aspberger's) so I had to call Campus Security because I was the only one in my office then (I have since stopped offering conferences in the evenings when no one else is around) but those were extreme cases and I never felt like my life was in danger. I hesitate to even include these instances because they weren't on the level that the student in the video had reached, and weren't typical cases of student behavior.
I also work in a profession where I work with convicts, addicts, and the mentally ill. I have had adults and children charge at me and try to hit me. I have also had to "take down" people twice my size to prevent them from hurting anyone else. Now if this were to happen in a classroom I would just call the cops, take downs are NOT part of that job description.
ReplyDeleteI once had a general-ed science class of 80 undergraduate education majors (DANGER, Will Robinson! Ed majors!) who pulled crap almost as bad as this just about every day. I hate being screamed at by children who insist they're adults. This was also when I had a completely incompetent department Chair, whose philosophy of leadership was to avoid conflict at any cost, from whom I got no support whatsoever, but was yelled at quite often. It was a nightmare: I don't know if I'll ever fully recover.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I am very glad that the state legislature has since phased out this class. I have no idea why K-6 teachers needed to know so much about energy and the environment, in the first place, but since I'd taught that class previously to normal college students, I can honestly say that I did my best.
DeleteAt Large Urban Community College, we've had more of this happening the past few years. One thing I will give the administration kudos for is adding a lot more training for us in how to deal with these situations. We now have multiple different types of professional development seminars in dealing with everything from what to do if someone with a gun is reported on campus to students throwing tantrums or threatening to kill themselves to colleagues who melt down.
ReplyDeleteAs a student, I was once in a class where a deluded guy thought his assigned study partner was his boyfriend. He was engaged to someone else of the opposite sex, and when he told the guy he was not interested, unbalanced guy quit coming to class, showed up at the final, stood in front of his desk, and dumped a cup of his own (I assume) urine on the object of his affection while screaming at him for cheating on him. The prof called security, who hauled him off. The poor victim and the people in close proximity, needless to say, were offered the opportunity to take a makeup final.
As a prof, I had a student who melted down in my class the very first year I taught. He accused me of giving A grades only to women because I was a feminist and started asking all the guys in the class if they ever made an A on any paper. He was standing up on his desk seat yelling and causing quite a scene. He stormed out before I had a chance to do anything. He eventually apologized the next week and never made a peep after that. I sent him to tutoring, but he still didn't make that A (though others with Y chromosomes did).
At the other post on this people (mostly an astronomer from Fresno) wanted to know what I would do in this situation. Now there are two Strenikovs: the KGB officer, ruthless Red Army commissar...and the real person.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, I would give one warning, then dial the campus cops on a cell phone, THEN video with the cell phone as she sputteres with rage and either keeps on screaming while being dragged out of class, or sits down and cools off.
But what the KGB officer/ruthless commissar would do would be much more amusing!
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