Patti Lynn Clark Barnett

Today, a friend of mine was telling me about her grand daughter's first day at Penn State. This morning, her grand daughter had called her complaining about her professor's foul language in the class room. She told her grandmother the professor used curse words excessively including the "F' word. He also had a pack of cigarettes in his pocket and was bemoaning the fact that he couldn't smoke in the class room.

Her grand daughter admitted she wasn't that shocked  at foul language. But was disappointed that there did not seem to be a distinction between regular campus crudity and a professor using such language in the class room. This 19 year old student was obviously very uncomfortable in this professor's class- especially since she comes from a Christian home.

Her concerned grandmother asked her why she didn't get up, walk out and report him. To which her grand daughter replied that it would probably result in her failing the required class and being labeled a snitch....not a great way to start her college tenure. And the professor was unlikely to be reprimanded, anyway.

What ever happened to common decency? It wasn't all that long ago that this type of behavior would have gotten the professor booted from his position pronto! Now, such people are tenured and they know that they can get away with almost anything (ex: Ward Churchill), including exhibiting such disrespect for their students and themselves. Of course, tenured professorship has been in place for many years. But there was a time when common sense, common decency and the awareness of responsibility to teach with honor and respect were expected traits of any teacher. In today's liberal educational environment, those traits are becoming increasingly rare.

The Penn State professor is just one example of how people in positions of responsibility, power and leadership are devaluing their roles as leaders. And we need better than that in this ever increasingly crass culture. Teachers/professors were once among our most respected role models.

What happened?!