Iowa Professor Goes on Bizarre Rant About Pomegranates

Pomegranates for sale in a grocery store
Mike Mozart/Flickr
Tom Ciccotta

A professor at a Des Moines community college was filmed going on a bizarre rant about students bringing pomegranates into her classroom.

Jane Martino, a psychology professor at the Des Moines Area Community College, was filmed going on a bizarre rant about the presence of pomegranates in her classroom.  “No Pomegranates! NO Pomegranates! No, no, no, no, no Pomegranates! None!” she cries out in the video, which has gone viral on social media since its posting.

Despite Martino’s outburst, she has overwhelmingly positive reviews from her students on the popular site Rate My Professor. “This professor has to be one of the best at the school,” one student wrote. “She has very unorthodox methods but is an effective instructor. Friendly person, too. One rule though — no pomegranates allowed in the classroom. Kinda strange but everyone has quirks.”

“She is a little goofy but knows her stuff,” another wrote. “She does a really good job and truly cares about you. Lots of busy work but most of it is simple. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!”

In a comment to the International Business Times, Martino attempted to explain the strange classroom moment. “We were discussing in class how meaningless the word ‘no’ is.  I went into the rant to make sure my students knew the ‘rule.’  Before making a big deal about it the students were not thinking about them.  Afterward they sure were!  Tell your kids what to think about and just skip the ‘no’ part,” she explained.

A Reddit thread on the incident, entitled “Discrimination against Pomegranates,” was posted on Thursday. “I would leave single pomegranate seeds in places she might find, that trigger is just too good not to pull,” one user wrote.

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles tweeted out the clip, remarking that “this is the funniest thing [she has] seen all month.”

 

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