Education / Schools, Law Schools

R-E-S-P-E-C-T (Can U Talk To Ur Professor Like This?)

Respect must be earned, but sometimes it will not be given even if earned.

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Mean TeacherProfessor Molly Worthen wrote an interesting piece in the New York Times recently titled, “U Can’t Talk to Ur Professor Like This.”  I enjoyed reading it.  So much so I’ve read it a dozen or so times now.  It got me thinking.

If I were to pick one quote from her piece that encapsulates the article, it’s this: “[T]oday, on the other side of the civil rights revolution, formal titles and etiquette can be tools to protect disempowered minorities and ensure that the modern university belongs to all of us. Students seem more inclined to use casual forms of address with professors who are young, nonwhite and female — some of whom have responded by becoming vocal defenders of old-fashioned propriety.”

I’m sympathetic to this argument.  I’ve observed the privilege that white male professors enjoy (and sometimes enjoy cluelessly), and the tensions that can build when even one (typically male) student tries to go alpha male in the classroom.  I agree with Professor Worthen that it is important to establish boundaries and insist on respect, however sought and needed to ensure professionalism. Being the “cool prof” is typically a luxury employed by those with some degree of privilege.

I like her argument as a general principle.  But I’m still thinking.  You might want to think about it more, too.  Here are some considerations.

One of the things that I immediately thought about was the time when a student, unhappy with his grade, called me Professor Asshole.  I was a newbie professor at the time.  Yes, he used the title “Professor.”  I told him to leave my office before I composed a character and fitness letter to the bar, and never return.  I’ve also heard students say things like “That [expletive] Professor LawProfBlawg gave me a B!”

What this suggests to me is that the title doesn’t confer respect in and of itself.  So, if we’re using titles as leverage against racism, sexism, ageism, etc., we might be careful not to think that it has transformative powers.

I also remember the student who, in the middle of class, called me out by saying that we didn’t need to recite the facts of the case.  The alpha-male law student test, as I have come to call it, happens regardless of title imposed.

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So, while having students call you “Professor” might be a good first step to respect, it isn’t the only one.

There’s one component that is embedded, almost hidden, in Professor Worthen’s article.  It is clear from Professor Worthen’s article that she respects her students and treats them with dignity. Respect has to go both ways.

I’ve seen a lot of writing about how law students don’t respect their professors.  I haven’t seen one saying that professors ought to respect their students.  That would be teaching by example.

Some examples from my own life:

Many of my colleagues when I was a student in law school had Ph.D.s and MDs.  Guess what didn’t happen?  Most professors didn’t address those students as Doctor.  One was even a professor in another department!  So, to some degree, investment in a hierarchy is merely investing in the hierarchy, and that tends not to serve the poor and disadvantaged.  It is merely the South Park statement: “You will respect my authority!”

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If you demand that your students call you Professor, do you call them by their last name?  If you expect them to use proper e-mail etiquette, is your own in check?  Have you made it so very clear that you do not wish to have any interaction with students that there’s a low chance of them sending you an e-mail anyway?  Do you keep your office hours, or could the law school rent out your office for months on end without you noticing?  When students are at your office hours, do you treat them as human beings or do you look at them like obstacles to your writing?  Do you do everything humanly possible to discourage the asking of questions in class?  Do you call them stupid?  Do you yell at them?  Do you ridicule them?

In short, respect must be earned.  If you insist on being called Professor while doing some portion of those grievances, you might feel respected, but you aren’t.  You’re hated and loathed.  You’re just too stupid to know it, and your students are probably being more courteous than you deserve.

If you aren’t “one of those professors” — good.  But some of your colleagues are.  I get to hear those stories.  When I was a student, I even had the pleasure of getting an adjunct fired because he called us all idiots and threatened to fail us.  We called him Professor, too.  If you get enough of those experiences, you start to see the reverse of the image conveyed by the New York Times piece.

Professors: Students must learn etiquette and be respectful.
Students: Um, when are our professors going to start?

So, if we want respect, it must be earned.  However, this comes with a warning:  Just because it is deserved doesn’t necessarily mean it will be given.  We’ve all had those students who sit in the back and glare, refuse to take notes, and seethe.  You can’t train them to respect others until they learn to respect themselves. That may never happen.  Some chips are so large they are integral to the shoulder.

I’m not sure if I count as a “cool professor” or not.  But I’ve found that if you take a genuine interest in your students’ successes, challenges, struggles, and job hunting, it goes a long way.  If you treat them as an end rather than as a means to an end (good evaluations) it goes a long way.  If you practice compassion, it goes a long way.  But it’s not going to cure every student — in particular, those who have 18+ years of learning hate are not going to change overnight.  Respect must be earned, but sometimes it will not be given even if earned.

Like I said, Professor Worthen wrote an interesting article.  And I’m still thinking about it.  So should you.

U Can’t Talk to Ur Professor Like This [New York Times]

LawProfBlawg is an anonymous professor at a top 100 law school. You can see more of his musings here and on Twitter. Email him at lawprofblawg@gmail.com.

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