He begins the video by wearing an astronaut-ish helmet and speaking as if he were an intergalactic traveler. Things get weirder—and more foul-mouthed—from there. As a result, a history professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., has been placed on administrative leave, reports the Washington Post. A post at Inside Higher Ed calls the video by 74-year-old Barry Mehler "part performance, part protest," the latter because he objects to returning to the classroom amid the pandemic. Among the reasons the professor is in hot water:
- “You people are just vectors of disease to me, and I don’t want to be anywhere near you," he says in his introductory video to students. "So keep your f---ing distance. If you want to talk to me, come to my Zoom.”
- “None of you … are good enough to earn an A in my class,” he says. “So I randomly assign grades before the first day of class. I don’t want to know [anything] about you. I don’t even want to know your name. I just look at the number and I assign a grade. That is how predestination works."