<p>Was it proper for the professor to release Franco’s grade?</p>
<p>^^It’s evidently part of the court record, although, I suppose they could have redacted Franco’s name, had they wanted to. </p>
<p>What I think happened was a real life example of that “school dream” we’ve all had: walking through the school halls and realizing to your horror that you haven’t been to a single class all year. With the understanding that a successful actor might spend most of his waking hours in a sort of elevated state of consciousness, I can definitely see how that might happen. </p>
<p>However, it’s too bad NYU went overboard in punishing the professor; a failing grade in grad school is going to have diminimus effect on Franco’s career while his former professor’s is now in ruins. Take it from one of your fans, James, you need to make this right. :(</p>
<p>Folks in the MFA student world are mostly already disgusted with the whole Franco phenomenon. He’s a mediocre writer racking up degrees and taking spots away from students who would actually attend class. His bio seems to be a joke to everyone but him. Those programs he’s not attending but getting credit for have single digit acceptance rates, for everyone but him, apparently.</p>
<p>^^Wow, Garland. I just read his wiki bio: [James</a> Franco - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“James Franco - Wikipedia”>James Franco - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>There’s a point where it sounds less like a love of ideas (which is where I thought he was coming from), than a love of certification/affirmation. An intervention might be appropriate.</p>
<p>To me this sounds like a power struggle between the professor and James Franco. The professor wanted to probably stick it to him because of his perceived notion of injustice about Franco being admitted and not having to attend class. The professor should have know better than to assume he had more sway Franco. In the end, the professor learned a valuable lesson about how the world works.</p>
<p>While I will concede that the professor was maybe “asking for it” by giving a D to a celebrity, NYU went down a notch in terms of respect it deserved. Is New York University really a university, or an unashamed marketing scheme? It looks like the latter more and more. Tuition is already astronomical; now its dedication to a fair and honest education is diminishing. Yuck.</p>
<p>I think everybody needs to read this </p>
<p>[James</a> Franco at Yale: Franco’s professor speaks. - Slate Magazine](<a href=“http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/12/james_franco_at_yale_franco_s_professor_speaks_.html]James”>James Franco at Yale: Franco’s professor speaks.)</p>
<p>Well, that didn’t change my opinion much, except possibly for the rigor of a Yale PhD. When I was in an English doctoral program, I barely had time to sleep, much less film a movie. And there’s nothing mentioned in the article about written work at all. The prof sounds a little starstruck to me.</p>
<p>what I got out of the Slate article was how the professor of film, for many years, was in “awe”, after seeing the set where his student performed. </p>
<p>You would THINK that he has seen his share of production environments…this is the sad state of many in academia. Same with law school professors… many have not stepped foot in a court room. </p>
<p>Besides that though, what he wrote doesn’t matter. The issue is what he allegedly did/did not do at NYU. How can you fire someone for giving them a bad grade. </p>
<p>Ridiculous. Hope the professor gets mucho dinero from the lawsuit.</p>
<p>I would be interested to know where the faculty groups are on this. Are they willing to take a stand in favor of NYU’s integrity? Or is it all about the money, and having people like Franco increases the applicant pool, kids with better stats, full pay kids etc.?</p>
<p>One piece of data that hasn’t been mentioned is that the “professor” was/is a “visiting assistant arts professor.” (Here’s link to his profile, which remains on the NYU site: [AngelSantana:</a> Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“http://gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu/object/AngelSantanaJ.html]AngelSantana:”>http://gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu/object/AngelSantanaJ.html).)</p>
<p>I saw somewhere where NYU admitted to not having renewed the guy’s contract. Not bringing back a visiting professor is much different from firing a tenured track professor. People who are visiting faculty on short-term contracts can be cut loose for any number of reasons. Or no reason: They are not assured a job from year to year, as anyone who has ever taught on a contract well knows! The headline “NYU fires professor for giving big-time actor a ‘D’” has a nice ring to it, but it’s sensationalistic.</p>
<p>Absolutely true absweetmarie and does change a lot of the story. Unfortunately it’s a PR disaster as many only look at half-stories; maybe a bit of an uptick for the rest of this year’s applicants, perhaps it will lessen the numbers?</p>
<p>I doubt NYU will have an drop in applications at all. </p>
<p>Penn State has actually had an increase in applications this year, and everyone was positive that “child raping” would be a turn off to new applicants. If THAT didn’t do it, I don’t know what would!</p>
<p>Good point, MOMMY5. Is there a such thing as a publicity “disaster”?</p>
<p>There is such a thing as a PR disaster, IMO. This isn’t one, also IMO. I’d bet you all TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS this isn’t going to matter a whit to NYU’s application statistics. It’s just another one of those tabloid-style stories where there’s a high jerk count and everyone comes off like kind of a goof. Administration admits student for publicity (which, of course, is what they did); teacher violates code of ethics by blabbing about student’s grade (not cool; never, ever cool); actor with god-knows-what to prove enrolls in course but doesn’t deign to attend …</p>
<p>There is such a thing as a PR disaster when it comes to a famous actor’s carefully crafted media image which is why Franco has one of the best publicists in the business - Robin Baum of Slate PR. I’d be willing to bet she had a hand in the Yale prof’s blog entry if Franco didn’t ask him to write it himself. What a load of horse**** … I’ll go so far as to predict an out of court settlement with a gag clause as well …</p>
<p>…I’m certainly gagging…clause or no…</p>
<p>No tenure?</p>
<p>Fernie: The guy was/is a visiting assistant art professor. Doesn’t sound like tenure track to me.</p>
<p>The usual thing would be to give the student credit for “life experiences.” Obviously, if he/she has starred in a movie and/or directed one, they can leapfrog over certain courses and not have to attend or justify their absence.</p>
<p>Other courses would be required as usual.</p>