A good professor is proud when his students put the lessons he taught into practice.

What would you do if the professor at your communication school told you that when communicating, the meaning of a message is determined by the person who hears the message?

That is what the professor in this story taught, so this clever student used that argument after she got a question wrong on a quiz, saying that based on her understanding of the question, her answer was correct. Rather than being proud, the professor got upset and threatened to kick her out.

This is an example of a terrible professor being upset when a student learned what he taught. Read through the full story and see what you think.

I Almost Got Kicked Out of Grad School for Using Knowledge

Many years ago, I was in grad school to get a Master’s degree in Speech Communication.

You can’t get along with every professor.

I had gotten my Bachelor’s degree at this same university, so I knew all of my professors in this particular department, including the one who didn’t like me as much.

In one of our first classes with Professor Katzenjammer (not his real name), we were discussing one of the foundational issues of Communication: “Where does the meaning of a message lie?”

This is a very complex subject.

That is if I say something to you, does the meaning of the message lie with how I meant it, or how you took it?

If I call you a big fat baby and make you cry, can I say, “Oh, but I was just joking?” and get away with it? Or are your feelings more important because it didn’t feel like a joke to you?

The truth likely lands somewhere in the middle.

We spent the entire class debating and discussing this issue. There were people on the “how I meant it” side and people on the “how I took it” side.

At the end of the hour, the Professor says, “In the end, it doesn’t matter. Most communication scholars believe that communication is receiver based.” (How I took it) “So, in this class, we will work under that premise. It’s how you received a message that’s important, not how it was sent.”

It isn’t worth arguing the point.

Fine. Good. I mostly didn’t care because I wouldn’t use this in real life anyway.

A week later, we were given a quick in-class quiz. It only had 10 questions on it, so it wasn’t a big deal. One of the questions was worded in a way that there were two possible answers. I picked the one I thought was correct, even though an argument could be made for the other answer.

Missing one question isn’t the end of the world.

When we got the quizzes back in the next class, I saw that I had missed that particular question. It wasn’t a big deal, I had only missed that one question. I still got 90%, which was still an A.

I was in friendly-but-intense competition with a woman who thought she was a know-it-all. (She clearly wasn’t one, or she would have recognized that *I* was the know-it-all.) It wasn’t even a serious competition and didn’t matter to anyone except us. And she had gotten all the answers correct, so she was gloating at me.

Now it was a big deal.

What is she going to do?

“Professor Katzenjammer,” I protested, “my answer was correct. I don’t think I should miss this point.”

“Except it wasn’t the correct answer,” said Professor Katzenjammer.

Oh, the professor is going directly against his previous instructions.

“But it is correct. If you read the question my way, then the answer follows and the other one is incorrect.”

“Except that’s not the way I meant it. I meant for it to be read this other way,” said Professor Katzenjammer.

She is not going to let this go.

There comes a time in every person’s life when the planets align, God smiles on fools, and something that does not have real-world applications is now the most important piece of knowledge you possess.

I was so giddy, I actually pointed upward like I was about to reveal a profound truth about the universe.

Well played, young lady.

“That may be, Professor. But you just told us that for the purposes of this class, all communication was receiver based, and that it was how we took a message, and not how it was sent, that mattered. I took the question in this manner, which means my answer should be correct.”

A hush fell over the room, and Professor Katzenjammer’s face turned a deep, smoldering red; I worried he was about to have a stroke.

Honestly, a good professor would be proud of her for using the lessons he taught.

“Class is over!” he shouted. “Everyone out!”

I tried to sneak out with the other eight students, but. . .

“Not you!”

Oh, great.

This professor is a jerk.

I turned around, and Professor Katzenjammer stomped up to me. I was six inches taller than he was, but I was so afraid, I felt two feet shorter.

“If you were in a Ph.D. program and you embarrassed me in front of the class like that, I’d have you thrown out before the end of the day,” he hissed. “And if you ever do that again, I’ll do it anyway.”

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She knew she won.

Then he stomped back to his office and slammed the door.

And all I could think of was that I could rub my perfect score in Ms. Doesn’t-Know-It-All’s face.

I’d like to see the professor’s justification for kicking her out. There is no way the school administration would allow it.

Check out what the commenters thought of this story here:

Go to the dean and get this professor under control.

Here is how a teacher should react, but many of them don’t.

This commenter thinks the professor is petty.

Some academics are very full of themselves, but they shouldn’t be.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a woman who refuses to confine her dog for days on end because building management can’t schedule a more exact inspection time.
The professor’s pride won’t let him admit he was wrong, though.

What kind of professor gets upset that his students learned the lesson he taught? He should be proud, not angry, but that rarely happens.

Unfortunately, some people just can’t accept it when they are made to look silly. This student should report him to the dean.