Students in Galveston at Texas A&M University were shocked to find that their management professor, Irwin Horwitz, failed a majority of the 2015 spring class.
News accounts have credited Horwitz with failing the entire class. He sent over 30 students an email saying he was issuing failing grades because they did not have the character, competence, or desire to perform quality work necessary for an Aggie.
Anticipating the University would have problems with this stern evaluation, the professor tendered his resignation at the same time. He reportedly said the students are “your problem now.”
Inside Higher Education, an online source for higher education news, included excerpts of Horwitz’ alleged email to the students:
Since teaching this course, I have caught and seen cheating, been told to ‘chill out,’ ‘get out of my space,’ ‘go back and teach,’ [been] called a ‘f—ing moron’ to my face, [had] one student cheat by signing in for another, one student not showing up but claiming they did, listened to many hurtful and untrue rumors about myself and others, been caught between fights between students….
Horwitz allegedly told the students:
None of you, in my opinion, given the behavior in this class, deserve to pass, or graduate to become an Aggie, as you do not in any way embody the honor that the university holds graduates should have within their personal character. It is thus for these reasons why I am officially walking away from this course. I am frankly and completely disgusted. You all lack the honor and maturity to live up to the standards that Texas A&M holds, and the competence and/or desire to do the quality work necessary to pass the course just on a grade level…. I will no longer be teaching the course, and all are being awarded a failing grade.
In a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas, Dr. Patrick Louchouarn, the VP for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, Galveston Campus, and Associate Provost of Texas A&M University, disputed claims that the entire class had been failed.
“The report that all students in this class will be failed is not correct,” says the statement. “Each student will receive an individual grade based upon work completed during the semester. There is no investigation of any class-wide cheating underway. The university is listening to concerns about this issue from students and faculty and will address them according to our policies.”
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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