I have taken several sociology courses held in classrooms that promote free thought and ideas. Throughout the course of my studies, I encountered several professors who expressed their views and theories. In my experience, there wasn’t ever any bias or indoctrination that accompanied their sharing. Students were certainly never attacked for their political views or opinions.
Sadly, this isn’t the case for Christopher Lyle, a student at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey. Lyle is a student in Professor Howard Finkelstein’s Sociology 105 Intercultural Communication class. After a heated exchange over the topic of sexual harassment in society, Professor Finkelstein apparently shouted “F*** your life” at Christopher Lyle. This was caught on camera by another student and quickly went viral on social media.
According to fellow students, Finkelstein routinely attacks Lyle over his conservative views. He often turns class into one long lecture against Lyle with no room for healthy discourse or encouragement for the conservative student. The behavior has effectively made Lyle feel as though he’s being discriminated against based on his political views.
Pressing a conservative student for their views on topics just to publicly berate them in class is reprehensible. According to Christopher Lyle, he was also pulled from another class over his support for the Second Amendment after mentioning he owned a personal firearm. He was questioned and investigated like a suspect. The school justified this action by releasing a statement, “It is in the best interest of all members of our community for the college to do its due diligence when a student or employee mentions firearms during the process of an investigation. The matter concerning the student’s statements about firearms has been investigated and the incident is closed.”
It’s evident by watching the video footage of the exchange that Christopher Lyle faces a hostile learning environment in Finkelstein’s class. It paints a disturbing picture of harassment and combative language. It also clearly shows bullying on the part of Finkelstein, who is supposed to be teaching Lyle. Liberal students in the class who share Finkelstein’s views have also taken a stand against the professor, blasting him for routinely attacking Lyle. The unprofessional behavior exhibited by Professor Finkelstein is finally being addressed, according to the school. This behavior is unacceptable and has clearly become a distraction to all students in the class.
Another shocking revelation made by students is that Finkelstein often continues his attacks on Christopher Lyle when he’s absent from class. By making degrading statements about a student in his absence, Finkelstein shows he’s not fit to be teaching. The outburst that was caught on video was a result of discussions on sexual harassment. According to students, Finkelstein blew up when Lyle interjected that men can also be victims of sexual harassment carried out by women. When Lyle questioned why Finkelstein was being disrespectful towards him, the professor was unaffected and continued his tirade. If this is how he is going to behave, this man should not be teaching.
