If a High School Senior Displays a Swastika at his School, Should Colleges be Told?

[Zinhead]

From The Boston Globe:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/27/ethical-dilemmas-trump-era/efPRjK8AOx1YZq8TlC9qFJ/story.html

The student made the swastika out of tape on a piece of paper and propped it against a recycling bin in a Stoughton High School classroom just before Thanksgiving. What happened next underscores the difficult terrain educators face as they confront the increase in racist and anti-Semitic incidents since the November election.

Three teachers, frustrated by a lack of clear guidelines for dealing with such a sensitive issue, responded in sharply different ways. One talked about the swastika in class. Another spoke to a student about it. And a third withdrew a college recommendation for the student who created the swastika.

But in the end, the teachers themselves, as well as some students, were disciplined.

[marvin100]

In this case–which I’ve read a lot about–I think the problem was that the teacher revealed the reason for rescinding the letter and doing so violated some law or sth like that.

[prof2dad]

It is perfectly ok for a teacher not to write a recommendation letter. It is also a teacher’s duty not to big-mouth students’ privacy.

[JHS]

If the student were disciplined for the swastika incident, wouldn’t it be required to be discussed in the school report portion of the application? And wouldn’t the student have waived privacy (vis a vis the college) by applying? So what’s the big deal about the teacher disclosing it?

I could see an issue if what were being disclosed was private and not school-based behavior, or if it were not clear that the student actually did it.

[HarvestMoon1]

I read that article and just really could not understand what transpired. Was the teacher in violation of FERPA? Did the school think that the college would not ask why the letter was being rescinded? And shouldn’t the teacher give the college an honest answer to that question?

I think the offense was a serious one and warranted the withdrawal of the letter. And I also think the nature of the offense being disclosed is fair game. Why is the school protecting this student? Actions have consequences.

And what a horrible message to send to the rest of the student body. The teacher is suspended for being transparent about a serious offense.

[OHMomof2]

I was going to post this glad I checked to see if someone else had @Zinhead

I read it here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/02/07/teacher-suspended-withdrawing-college-recommendation-letter-student-who-displayed

I thought of it because of a story told me to me about a GC in my community who rescinded a rec years ago because of a cheating infraction and was forced out of the job for doing so (student was the child of a school board member). (That is secondhand info and wasn’t made public so YMMV).

If a teacher knows they won’t write a good rec in the first place they should of course decline. But what about when something happens afterward? Is it appropriate for the teacher to rescind or update the positive rec letter?

“In my view the question college admission committees are asking themselves is this: Can we trust letters of recommendation that come from a school district where faculty members may be disciplined for what they say in them?”

[MassDaD68]

I think the reason the teacher was suspended was because of her lack of following proper procedure and violating the students constitutional right of due process. The teacher in this case acted as judge and jury and made a unilateral decision to withdraw the recommendation. That most likely was not proper and resulted in the teachers suspension. There may also be rules regarding student privacy that were violated. There was a probably a whole host of other violations that the teacher made.

I will not follow this teachers lead and pass judgement.

[ucbalumnus]

http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20170201/fallout-continues-over-handling-of-stoughton-high-swastika has more details.

[ucbalumnus]

Seems like there is more discussion and links to other articles at:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1961923-if-a-high-school-senior-displays-a-swastika-at-his-school-should-colleges-be-told.html

[MassDaD68]

Yes. We have a bit of duplication here on CC.

[Hunt]

But when a student asks a teacher to prepare a recommendation, he is authorizing that teacher to make statements about his character. Does this school also vet the contents of recs written by teachers? If it doesn’t, I don’t see how rescinding one is any different.

[PNWedwonk]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/teacher-suspended-swastika_us_5894b999e4b040613136a1af

A Massachusetts high school teacher has been suspended from her job after rescinding a college recommendation letter for a student caught making a swastika.

The Stoughton High School teacher, an Army veteran, is one of three teachers at the eastern Massachusetts school disciplined for discussing the swastika a student fashioned from tape and displayed in a hallway.

I believe that a teacher should be able to rescind their recommendation if a student does something that would have made the teacher say no to endorsing the student in the first place.

[Hunt]

P.S. The link in #8 crashed my computer–I wouldn’t recommend going there.

[thumper1]

Looks like,the two,threads got merged. Thank you!!

[HarvestMoon1]

I think this incident does highlight some of the issues with LOR’s that we discussed in another thread. Seems like they do not really mean much these days.

How well could this teacher really have known this student? He had a previous disciplinary history that the teacher was prepared to overlook for the purposes of the LOR. But when something that I assume was more serious arises, I think she was well within her right to withdraw a letter that she wrote that purportedly attests to his good character.

[anon94785555]

Had to check the state- WI also has a city of that name. btw- Hitler ruined the swastika. It is a common Indian symbol with GOOD connotations!

[HarvestMoon1]

@MassDaD68 had the matter not already been adjudicated by the administration I would agree with you. But the administration had already made a determination about the facts and disciplined him for it.

[MYOS1634]

I think the colleges would want to know and that this reaction will taint any LOR they receive from the high school (henceforth).

[Lindagaf]

@wis75 , that’s true, but it will never again be understood in its original form. Same with the confederate flag. No going back with that either.

[jonri]

This is appalling! Even if the student had been disciplined, IMO the teacher had a right to withdraw the LOR and tell the college why!