Romantic literature tends to deal with the seedier things in life, but UF freshman Jamie Chute doesn’t see why her English professor needed to drop F-bombs in class.
Chute, who was home-schooled and dual-enrolled at Daytona State College for two years before coming to UF, said she’s heard professors curse before.
Nevertheless, she thinks that there are better ways of expressing the material.
“I don’t want to come off as a prude, but it didn’t need to be said that way,” she said.
But, under a clause, UF professors have the right to teach how they see fit, and this may include language that some would see as less than conventional.
“It’s my classroom,” said Meredith Cochie, a former UF professor in the College of Journalism and Communications, “and that’s how it goes for me.”
Cochie, who now teaches at Full Sail University, said curse words come naturally to her. The 26-year-old has been in newsrooms since she was 14, and cursing, she said, is part of life in the newsroom.
“I talk how I usually talk,” she said about her teaching style. “And that’s with curse words.”
Although there are no rules at UF specifically dealing with foul language, there is a rule about professors’ responsibility to respect their roles as teachers, mentors, researchers and counselors.
Academic Provost Joe Glover doesn’t remember ever hearing someone complain about profanity, just bad behavior.
He said there are appropriate instances where instructors may curse, such as using profanity for academic reasons.
“If a student complains, we would look at the situation and assess it to see if the professor crossed the line,” Glover said. “You could have a professor who crossed the line or a student who is just unreasonably sensitive.”
Of the 120 students who filled out evaluations of Cochie at the end of the semester, three thought it was unprofessional of her to say words like “shit” in class.
“Nobody’s ever come up to me face-to-face or after class and said, ‘I’m uncomfortable with your language,’” she said.
UF freshman Helen D’Avanza thinks cursing is a method of expression.
“There are lucid, intelligent people who just swear, man,” she said. “It is what it is, and who cares if an F-bomb is dropped.”
But D’Avanza, who went to a public high school in Tampa, said she doesn’t want her professors to curse all the time.
“I want more respectful professors,” said Kramer Leitman, a freshman who went to a private Christian school in Jacksonville. “I want moral professors because in high school I really looked up to some of my teachers.”
Ombudsman Tommie Howard agrees. He said that if it were up to him, cursing would be banned for professors.
In the end, D’Avanza said it’s not a big deal how professors talk.
“I will listen to my professors no matter what, even if I am offended.”
