Aspiring Medical Students At Top School Get Their Chemistry Professor Fired Because His Class Had High Standards | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ben Zeisloft.

    New York University organic chemistry professor Maitland Jones was fired after students petitioned the school with claims that his class was too difficult.

    According to a report from The New York Times, Jones - who taught at Princeton University for decades and wrote a bestselling textbook on his subject - maintained a rigorous course that his students, many of whom are pursuing medical careers, considered a weed-out class. After 82 of his 350 pupils signed a petition against him earlier this spring, university deans canceled his teaching contract, which he had previously renewed on a yearly basis.

    Marc Walters, who directs New York University's undergraduate chemistry department, explained in an email to Jones that the school would let students retroactively withdraw from his class as a "gentle but firm hand to the students and those who pay the tuition bills" - an apparent reference to parents.

    New York University, where annual tuition is nearly $60,000, places highly on national rankings of American undergraduate programs. Alongside other elite schools, New York University implemented test optional admissions in response to COVID and government lockdowns - a policy under which applicants are not required to submit scores for standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT.

    Jones first noticed a decline in students' focus roughly one decade ago, although student performance has since worsened. "In the last two years, they fell off a cliff," he wrote in a letter to the university contesting his termination. "We now see single digit scores and even zeros."

    The 84-year-old professor paid more than $5,000 out of his own pocket to produce 52 organic chemistry lectures intended to help students succeed despite the school's closure in the spring of 2020. Nevertheless, students failed to take advantage of the extra assistance and appeared in class at lower rates once the university returned to conventional instruction.

    "They weren't coming to class, that's for sure, because I can count the house," Jones said in an interview with The New York Times. "They weren't watching the videos, and they weren't able to answer the questions."

    Kent Kirshenbaum, a fellow chemistry professor, told the outlet that he discovered cheating during online tests and responded by decreasing students' grades. He explained that the students protested because "they were not given grades that would allow them to get into medical school."

    The petition against Jones complained of his "condescending and demanding" tone, as well as his decision to conceal course averages and neglect to offer extra credit. "We urge you to realize that a class with such a high percentage of withdrawals and low grades has failed to make students' learning and well-being a priority and reflects poorly on the chemistry department as well as the institution as a whole," the document contended.

    The controversy over Jones' termination emerged weeks after President Joe Biden unveiled a plan to eliminate $10,000 in student loans per borrower earning under $125,000, as well as $20,000 per borrower who paid for college using Pell Grants.

    According to economists at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, the policy may encourage higher levels of college attendance as potential borrowers consider the possibility of future bailouts. "If student loan debt forgiveness is ongoing, students might eventually reorganize their financing toward additional borrowing," analysts explained.


poll#162

In what may be the most divisive period in modern American History, even more divisive than the turbulent sixties due to today's lack of patriotism, consider what are the major catalysts causing so much of this calamity of conflict, and vote: What most instigates the division of America, on this day September 20, 2022?

  Racism within our society

  Sex realignment to the detriment of our society.

  Biden /Harris Wide Open Southern Border Policy for the Demographic Upheaval of OUR Constitutional Republic

  Rampant Crime in Democratic controlled cities, and the possible contagion elsewhere

  Covid Pandemic, and its mishandling at the political, and bureaucratic levels.

  The unresolved questions /allegation regarding the flawed 2020 General Election

  January 6th Riot or "Armed Insurrection", depending upon patriotic perspective

  Joe Biden as Divisive Leader; Ineffective and Corrupt Executive

  Failed Education Industry, from an overall perspective, regarding all levels of education.

  Propagandistic Media in complete conflict with the First Amendment's guarantee of Freedom of Speech, and the awesome responsibility of a Free Press..

  "Orangeman Bad!"

  Bureaucracy rushing to a behemoth size, its unjustified expense, and far too often overreach.

  The Weaponized Deep State for political purposes

  A secular ambivalence to all that is real.

  Record number of overdose deaths from opioids and now Fentanyl

  Biden Administration's disastrous Foreign Policy

  Bidenflation /supply chain failure inevitably evolving into stagflation and recession.

  "Ultra MAGA Extremists" freely speaking louder AND LOUDER!

927 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?

poll#154

Inarguably, the policies of the Democrats in congress and Joe Biden as the Executive is plunging the United States into a recession, if we are not already there; a recession that was completely avoidable. Will abrupt changes in policies occur in time?

  Yes, the Democrats have a bold plan, yet to be revealed, to save us.

  No, there will have to be a complete undoing of the damage done by these Democrats.

  I can't do simple math, so how am I to understand the concept of basic economics.

1,216 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?