Late Black Student Interrupts Professor, Confused Educator Mixes Last Names and Soon Receives Terrifying News About His Work: Report

In a confusing, wake-up food chain, New York City’s Fordham University kicked off a faculty member who mixed the names of two black students.

The events that led to the firing of former faculty member Christopher Trogan began on September 24, when he mixed up the names of two black students, according to Fordham Observer, a student-run newspaper.

They complained to him that they felt treated with a disrespectful Due to their race, this prompted Trogan to send an explanatory email to his class.

He called the confusion an “innocent mistake,” noting that two students were late while he was reading a third student’s work.

“The student was offended that it was my fault that I mistook the student for another Black student,” Trogan said in the email. “I did my best to attest and reassure the offended student that I had made a simple, human error. It has nothing to do with racing.”

One student, whose name was not used by the Observer, said Trogan often misspelled students’ names.

Another student, Chantel Sims, said the name issue was not as concerning as the response from Trogan.

“It seems a bit overwhelming, like all you have to do is say sorry and everything will be fine,” she said. “We’re not really upset about him mixing up our names. It’s like the random stuff he’s going to throw in the reaction. “

Sims disliked Trogan’s email list for “everything he did for the minority” and said it made her think he was a complicated white person.

Two days after the incident, Trogan was prohibit.

On October 5, he had a Zoom meeting with Eva Badowska, dean of arts and sciences and vice president, arts and sciences, and was terminated 20 days later.

“I was never informed of the charges against me, nor of the nature of the investigation to which I was the subject,” Trogan said in an October 29 email to his former students. “I was kept completely in the dark.”

Trogan later said he was terminated not because of a name mistake, but because of an email apologizing to the student for it.

Student Pradanya Subramanyan said she was not satisfied with the way the university was acting.

“I was really shocked because it didn’t seem like a big deal to me,” Subramanyan said. “I don’t think he did anything wrong.”

Trogan said he was prohibited from entering the school premises.

“Their legal team can now even pursue me – even after I terminate my contract – with threats and accusations against me personally and professionally for submitting information This is for you, but I’ll deal with it when they arrive,” he wrote on October 29. e-mail.

Bob Howe, assistant vice president of communications, said Fordham would not comment on individual cases.