A theater professor was placed on leave after three Black students said he used the N-word during class, prompting them to walk out of the room on April 24.
“I want that man fired. He should not be teaching at a college,” Kyro Davis, one of the students who walked out said.
According to two students in the class, white professor Greg Mortensen presented students with a script containing racist language during a one-on-one scene exercise. A white student then privately raised concerns over using such language in an academic setting.
Mortensen explained to the student that in a setting where such language is part of a greater context, it is OK to say. When the student pushed back on this idea, Mortensen opened up the conversation to the entire class.
When students disagreed with the notion of using uncomfortable language in a classroom setting, he stood firm, justifying the necessity of saying such words.
Mortensen then gave a personal anecdote about his father who served in the military alongside his friend in the south.
According to students there, Mortensen explained how his father often recounted his Black friend’s story of being discriminated against by a white man, saying the exact phrase the man used against his friend, which included the N-word.
Students say he did not censor his use of the slur.
The reaction to the word was immediate, the class stood silent in shock. One Black student walked out, followed by two more.
Kyro and Monaliese Davis, siblings, who walked out of the class together, immediately went to speak with interim performing arts Dean Janet Hund, who was reportedly outraged at the incident.
Mortensen’s class was then canceled on Wednesday and he did not return to campus for the week.
The Viking News reached out to Janet Hund for further information. Prior to answering our questions, Hund phoned three different human resources personnel and asked if she could provide us with information about Mortensen’s employment status.
Hund then stated she was advised not to comment on the situation.
In a follow up interview, Hund confirmed that Mortensen will not be returning for the semester and his classes will be taken over by a new instructor.
She could not comment on his potential return next semester.
As of Tuesday, the Viking News has not yet heard comment from Mortensen despite four separate efforts to reach out.
Academic freedom typically maintains a professor’s right to decide how and what should be taught in their classrooms, as long as it serves the purpose of education. The situation presented here may not fall under academic freedom as it was used verbally, according to Black Faculty Association member and political science professor Jerome Hunt.
Hunt also stated his belief that instructors need more training in order to be prepared for and properly handle such incidents within the classroom.
“Professors have to be aware of how to continue to teach certain things when society has changed,” said Hunt, “and be able to handle situations that might be reacted to differently in today’s society compared to how it might’ve been reacted to in the past.”
In an email to the Viking News, Black political science professor Donald Douglas gave his own insights into the issue.
“It’s never okay to use racial slurs, particularly the ‘N-word.’ But there are some circumstances where its use would be appropriate in the classroom as a part of a learning exercise,” Douglas wrote.
Douglas also added that he felt the climate of today contributed to the negative reaction some have to the word in any context.
“If it weren’t for outrage culture and political correctness, the use of the word in such situations might provide a powerful opportunity for critical thinking and self-reflection,” wrote Douglas.
One professor, when informed on the incident, raised concerns over whether this sets a precedent of censoring Black authors’ and creators’ voices in academic settings if they use racially charged language to tell their own stories.
Margaret Shannon, a white English professor at LAC, said she had considered using “Beloved,” a book authored by sole Black Nobel Prize in literature recipient Toni Morrison as part of the course curriculum for her PUENTE cohort English class.
“Hearing this rumor alone, I have decided not to teach the Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison,” Shannon said.
Prior to 2016, Shannon had also used the book in her regular English 3 class. She explained her deep connection with the book and how it impacted other students and the value she feels such language can hold in telling stories.
According to Shannon, she removed “Beloved” from her course curriculum right when the Trump administration took hold, fearing that the material in the book would be too contentious in such a politically divided climate. Her stance on the subject has only solidified since this recent incident.
In a follow up interview, Kyro Davis expressed their relief at Mortensen’s removal.
“I finally feel like I’m learning what I should have been learning,” they said.