College Student Says His Steamy Essay Got Him Thrown Out

Well, since I have something in common with this guy in so far as being in college and writing Essays like the things were free, I was quite curious to open this up and see what the fuss was about. These days, who knows right?

In his English 380 Advanced Critical Writing class, taught by Pamela Mitzelfeld, "Corlett submitted an essay he drafted for Mitzelfeld's review that was composed to satisfy the class' 'anecdote' assignment," the complaint states.

. . .

"After an English 380 class, Mitzelfeld and her teaching assistant informed plaintiff Corlett that they were amused by his essay and recommended several suggestions including, but not limited to, changing the title from 'The Boobs I Wasn't Meant to See' to 'My Boobs DVD.'

(spacing by me)

Believe it or not, this isn't the steamy Essay that got him the boot. This wasn't at all the offensive one. Surprising in this day and age of the very P.C. attitudes, eh? So what could he have done? What more could he have written? Oh... he really did 1-up himself on this one. This is called taking a good thing just one step past cute, in my opinion.

The complaint continues: "Plaintiff Corlett was familiar with previous writing professors and their idiosyncrasies and intolerance towards certain topics for writing assignments (e.g., personal sex life, family members, etc.), so he asked Mitzelfeld on the first day of class, in front of her teaching assistant, if any topics were restricted or prohibited. Mitzelfeld emphatically replied 'no' to plaintiff Corlett and that she wanted the 'raw stuff' (i.e., no edits or second guessing) to be captured in the Daybook.

Okay, it's very important to mention something here, this is advanced college course for goodness sake. Instructors or Professors don't usually spell everything out as if talking to a grade school student who might get lost going to the restroom. The above...should have been clear without opening the door, as I'd think of it?

It wasn't.

"On or about September 10, 2011, plaintiff Corlett composed a Daybook entry entitled 'Hot for Teacher,' which was named after a 1984 song performed by the hard rock band Van Halen. This entry was a whimsical exaggeration of his attraction towards Mitzelfeld.

...

Corlett claims the university administration told him he must withdraw from the class and offered him a tuition refund, which he refused.
At a hearing before the University Conduct Committee (UCC), he says, the board "determined that plaintiff Corlett's Daybook entries rose to a level of 'intimida(tion)' towards a 'person engaged in lawful activities on campus.' ...

(Source: Courthouse News

Now it seems to me, they were pretty reasonable. He took something to a very personal level that I couldn't imagine, even as a joke in a Student/Instructor situation. Again, it's college. A certain level of standards are expected.

I share this because he's now suing the school and everyone else in sight. They ended up suspending him which screwed him up badly as I can well attest to for academics and aid issues ...but only after he flat refused to withdraw from the course with the full refund of costs.

As a student paying tuition and related costs that are, in part, covering lawsuits and nonsense like this? I think it's just flat outrageous. I'd really like to see something where filing losing lawsuits costs the person who filed it, if and when they lose. Perhaps, in a situation like this, someone would be more apt to take the refund and just move on with other classes than roll the dice in the great Court Sweepstakes for the jackpot settlement?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


One of the problems I saw at University was the propensity for some students to want to turn everything in their life into a protest issue, or activist cause.

Some people can be pretty ridiculous in attempting to provoke or instigate a situation where they can then sing their morally outraged self entitled indignity to the heavens with all the sign waving sit-in fervor they can drum up.

University is an academic environment and though often relations with faculty are casual, there's a big difference between friend casual and University casual.
No matter what one thinks they can get away with or should be allowed or permitted to do, express, exercise or perform, there's always going to be a TOO-FAR, or over-the-line area.

It's naive to think that when someone says there's no limits, that there actually are no limits.