Fed-Up Professor Quits, Fails Entire Class
Irwin Horwitz is not your typical college professor.
Horwitz failed every one of his students in his strategic management class at Texas A&M Galveston and then sent them all a blistering email letting them know they'd be receiving an F, while also ripping their behavior to shreds and revealing he's done teaching the course.
Horwitz told Houston's KPRC that the students in the class this semester were a nightmare and "I reached the breaking point."
His frustration is clear in the email:
“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 ‘[bleeping] 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…. 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.”
Horwitz says, "I was dealing with cheating, dealing with individuals swearing at me both in and out of class, it got to the point that the school had to put security guards at that class and another class."
Horwitz does not have the school's backing. The head of Horwtiz's department will take over the class and a spokesman for academic affairs says no one has failed the class yet.
And while Horwitz has washed his hands of the class, it's unclear if he will resume teaching at Texas A&M Galveston in another capacity.