A Fordham University professor has been fired following a bizarre incident which seems to have resulted in his termination partly because he is white and partly because he reacted to the situation with the kind of excessive and unnerving apology you would expect from a liberal accused of racism. Christopher Trogan did nothing wrong and should not have been fired but he made the ordeal far worse for himself by assuming that he was at fault even before anything had happened.
Professor fired for awkward reaction
Trogan mixed up the names of two students who arrived late to a lecture. One of the students , according to Trogan’s subsequent statement, suggested that the mix up was due to the fact that both are black.
Lecturers have to keep track of many students each semester and this incident could have just as easily happened with two white students who looked similar but the racial aspect in this case doomed the professor.
Instead of shrugging off the mix up and moving on, Trogan sent out a lengthy email to all of his students begging forgiveness and denying that he had race in mind when he got their names wrong.
The apology pleaded with recipients to acknowledge how much he had previously done for liberal causes and to have mercy on him rather than simply pointing out that he had done nothing wrong.
One of the students involved in the mix up was somewhat baffled by the whole thing, admitting that neither of them had really been offended by the error and a simple apology for mixing up the names of two students would have sufficed without bringing race into it.
The bizarre apology struck that student as more concerning than the incident itself, with the professor seemingly refusing to let it go even after his students had already moved on.
University offers little explanation
Despite the awkward apology, it is unclear what Trogan did to justify his being fired by Fordham other than his being white and the students being black.
Messing up the names of two students is hardly an indication that the man is unqualified to be teaching in the school’s English department.
Remembering names can be difficult in large classes and the lecturer at least made some effort to learn the names of all of his students, something which some of his peers likely haven’t bothered to attempt.
Disregarding the fact that he botched his handling of the incident and made himself look a bit bizarre, nothing Trogan did could possibly qualify his being fired in most settings.
Trogan says that he was never informed about an investigation into his conduct and was not given any specifics by the school before he was thrown out a month after the incident.
The professor may take legal action against the school and it is difficult to see how Fordham could offer any real justification for the termination if subjected to any amount of scrutiny.
