Image by Unsplash/TonyTran Developments
After a Tuesday student refused to wear a mask, a University of Georgia professor abruptly resigned in the middle of class.
According to The Red & Black, University of Georgia student newspaper, Irwin Bernstein (88), announced his sudden retirement as a psychology professor. One of his students refused wearing her mask properly despite numerous attempts to convince her. Bernstein asked the student to get a mask from a university office after she arrived at class initially unmasked. The student refused to wear the extra mask she received from a classmate because it was too heavy and she couldn't breathe.
Bernstein told the student that COVID-19 could cause him to die as he has Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The girl refused to wear her mask correctly.
I stated that while I had sacrificed my life in the Air Force to protect my country, I wasn't willing to risk my own life teaching a class with an unmasked student during the Pandemic. Bernstein sent this email to The Red & Black. I resigned from my retirement-rehire job.
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Fourth-year psychology major Hannah Huff attended the class. She told The Red & Black that Professor Bernstein said, "That's it." We watched him put all his papers in his bag and then walk out of the class.
She's talking about blessing in disguise crap like maam. I am just trying to graduate Hannah Banana, @hannahhuffn, August 24, 2021
Huff stated that the offending student received a lot of attention from her peers, who were shocked at the sudden resignation of their professor. Some even asked her: You know, we need this class for graduation?
Huff said that the damage was done. Huff said that she holds her values and will not change them even if someone asks. Bernstein is always there for you, the student. Bernstein is there for you [the student].
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Bernstein will be retiring from the University of Georgia for the second time. He had retired in 2011 from the University of Georgia. He was still employed part-time as a retiree-rehire.
He told his students on the 18th of August that he would enforce a no-mask, no-class policy in his classes.
It is a shame that the pandemic caused so much division. Personally, I don't believe that stimulating the economy is more important that people's lives. Bernstein stated this to the student-run publication.
According to The Wall Street Journal, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Georgia are getting closer to records due to a Delta variant spike. According to The Wall Street Journal, 95 percent are filled in the Peach State with intensive-care beds, 55 percent of which are occupied by COVID-19 residents.
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