One of my required courses to be able to graduate next semester got canceled and it is not offered anymore next Spring. My political science advisor "advised" me to find any political science course that is "somehow" relevant to this course and take it as a substitute. Eager to learn, I found this interesting course, human rights in contemporary Egypt, which is relevant to my given up for lost course, Egyptian constitution. I needed to get the instructor's consent to register in this "somehow" relevant course although it is the department's responsibility to get me the substitute.
It took a series of emails between me and the teacher to get the "divine" consent. At the very first email, I explained how my course got canceled and how it was easy for me to register for any of the political science courses that are offered next semester and take it as a substitution. But, because I am excited to learn something, I chose this specific course which is relevant to my specialization in law. The teacher asked about my GPA, and whether I am an "American Arab" or an "Arab"!!! I replied that my GPA is STILL 3.2 despite the fact that I have two Ds in my record which I am repeating to improve this GPA, and that I am Egyptian. The teacher never replied back, and when I asked for a reply anytime soon, I got this reply: "I'm afraid I cannot approve your enrollment on this course. Minimum requirement is 3.5 GPA."
I have never seen this teacher, and I don't wanna take this course anymore. I am just wondering what kind of students does this teacher accept in this "divine" course? Does the fact that this teacher asked whether I am an American Arab or a pure Arab ring any bells? Is there even such a thing as a minimum GPA requirment to enroll in a course? Is there an AUC policy that says so? IS THAT EVEN LEGAL?!
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- Sara Thakeb
- Sara Roshdy Thakeb, a political science senior at AUC; double specializing in International Relations and Public and International Law.
5 comments:
Can't you take some action against that professor? I think you can report on him using your emails, he has no right to discriminate based on nationality, origin, or even GPA. As long as you have the minimum requirment of your major's GPA then you can take any course you want in that major. THAT'S DISCRIMINATION OUT LOUD.
P.S. I LOVE YOUR WRITING STYLE SARA, Keep it up :)
You should definitely report this teacher. There are no GPA or nationality restrictions on ANY courses as far as I know.
You could've also petitioned to re-open this class you wanted. If the registrar/department sees enough students wanting to enroll into the same class, they should open it.
Thank you so much guys for the support!!
Suzy, I agree that as long as you have the minimum requirement of your major GPA then, ABSOLUTELY, you can take any course you want in the major. Do you know that Political Science's minimum GPA is 2.0!!!!!
Sandra, they don't need to reopen the course for registration. The teacher didn't accept anyone into the course yet; there are still 10 available seats out of 10 in this class up till this moment! I guess they are saving them for international students, but the thing is I thought AUCians have the priority!
When I said I don't want to take this course anymore, there is this guy who advised me to report the teacher and petition to register and then drop it ONLY to express and state my civil rights!
I used to be a political science major so I know that the min. GPA is 2. Thank God that I changed my major because I would have been very ANGRY that I might do something stupid hehehehe.
I think you should do something about this situation, go talk to the provost maybe. Anyway Good Luck hun :)
You need to go back to the department and explain what happened, they're the only ones who can explain it if that is true or not. If they can't tell you if it is true or not, then you should go higher up the administration and complain. You may not end up taking the class at the end of the day (cause the teacher sounds like a bum), but at the very least you would have exposed him/her as a discriminator and very biased person.
Furthermore, if a GPA of 3.5 was a requirement for the course, then wouldn't it state it under the pre-requisites and course requirements underneath the actual course itself when choosing course numbers?
I can understand the hesitation reporting this incident, but trust me, it has to be done. If more people acted as a check on outrageous teachers here in AUC, then perhaps we'd all be getting better quality education.
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