If you haven't heard already, a former Dartmouth professor by the name of Priya Venkatesan went on an insecurity rampage and decided to sue a couple of her freshmen students on charges of discrimination last Friday. The lawsuit was recently dropped due to idiocy. Venkatesan’s currently at Northwestern University as a research assistant.

Here's a complete recap of what's happened so far with this fiasco.

April 26, 2008

Dr. Venkatesan (Dartmouth '90, UC Davis - MS in Genetics, UCSD - PhD in literature) sends out this blitz to her Winter '08 Writing 5 class announcing her intentions to press charges.

"Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:56:35
From: Priya Venkatesan
Subject: WRIT.005.17.18-WI08: Possible lawsuit

Dear former class members of Science, Technology and Society:

I tried to send an email through my server but got undelivered messages. I regret to inform you that I am pursuing a lawsuit in which I am accusing some of you (whom shall go unmentioned in this email) of violating Title VII of anti-federal discrimination laws.

The feeling that I am getting from the outside world is that Dartmouth is considered a bigoted place, so this may not be news and I may be successful in this lawsuit. I am also writing a book detailing my experiences as your instructor, which will "name names" so to speak. I have all of your evaluation and these will be reproduced in the book.

Have a nice day. "

Title VII of anti-federal discrimination laws? What?

Did this woman do ANY research before threatening the lawsuit?

The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination by employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin so I don't really understand why she decided to sue her students. I guess she was trying to hit two birds with one stone--sue her superiors and also the whiny little Ivy League preps who questioned and contradicted her views.

Wow that backfired...who could've foreseen this?

Most superficial sentence in the blitz: "Have a nice day."
That line is something straight out of the mouth of Professor Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books.

Anyways, she then sent out individual e-mails to seven students notifying them that they were possibly being sued.

"From: Priya Venkatesan
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008
Subject: Class Action Suit

Dear Student:

As a courtesy, you are being notified that you are being named in a potential class action suit that is being brought against Dartmouth College, which is being accused of violating federal anti-discrimination laws. Please do not respond to this email because it will be potentially used against you in a court of law.

Priya Venkatesan, PhD"

...Class action suit? I'm not a lawyer, but I'm fairly sure class action does not mean sue your class.

"From: Priya Venkatesan
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008
Subject: Class Action Suit

Dear Student:

Please disregard the previous email sent by Priya Venkatesan. This is to officially inform you that you are being accused of violating Title VII pertaining to federal anti-discrimination laws, by the plaintiff, Priya Venkatesan. You are being specifically accused of, but not limited to, harassment. Please do not respond to this email as it will be used against you in a court of law.

Priya Venkatesan, PhD"

A quick look at the Student Assembly (unofficial Dartmouth) Course Guide and you wonder why Dartmouth didn’t sack this chick earlier. Venkatesan’s courses received D’s when the average Writing 5 course was around B.

Here is just two of many negative student reviews:

"If this teacher (if you can even call her that) is still at dartmouth [sic] do not take a class from her.

She cannot lecture to save her life and assigns pointless readings. She picks on students if they do not agree with her strongly unfounded opinions. She does not give any feedback on papers. This class will not make you a better writer.

The writing dean had to coach her through the term because she kept having mental breakdowns. This class is a waste of time. Do not take it."---2011

"...[she] even discouraged asking questions in the middle of class when something was unclear. She told us to blitz her questions that we might have been confused about, but she seldom responded to them...The professor also seemed to have really intense mood swings. Sometimes she would convene class all of a sudden because she got really angry for reasons unknown to students. Furthermore, I am very skeptical about her teaching methods. For one of our essays, we had a rough draft due on one day. We peer reviewed each other's pieces in class, and then handed in those reviews and our papers. After promising to give us feedback the next morning, the prof instead posts on blackboard that we seem to have a good understanding of the material from what we wrote in our peer reviews. She never gave us feedback or even let us read what other people wrote about our papers."---2011

In response to the abysmal reviews her courses have received, Vankatesan spoke about her how they affected her actions.

"I am not at all bitter about poor teaching evaluations. I am a currently a Fellow at one of the most reputed research (emphasize research) institutions in the country and I am the product of the educational system of the finest research (emphasize research) academic institutions in the country. I am very confident in my ability to teach as well and know that I will perform well where I am right now (which is undisclosed) because basically it offers a healthy environment for academic discussion, debate and personal and professional growth…"

The first thing I notice in that response is how many errors there are. I know my writing isn't correct at times, but I'm also not a writing professor.
The second thing is how she's trying to hide behind her abilities (or therein lack of).

The Dartblog received a written statement from Venkatesan informing them that she is "pursuing a legal suit against members/former members of the Dartmouth community." She goes on to name Christopher H. Lowrey of the Dartmouth Medical School and his four-person research team, and Thomas H. Cormen, Ph. D. Director of the Writing Program and Professor of Computer Science.

It could be that a few fellow faculty members did indeed discriminate and harass Venkatesan, but her lawsuit against the students completely annihilates her credibility as a reasonable and rational adult.

"The students I am naming in this suit were mostly from Winter 08 term with a few from Fall. Essentially, I am pursuing litigation to see if I have a legal claim, that is, if the inappropriate and unprofessional behavior I was subjected to as a Research Associate and Lecturer at Dartmouth constitutes discrimination and harrassment [sic] on the basis of ethnicity, race and gender. This includes not just students, but a few faculty members that I worked with. At this stage, I am making a detailed list of names in a chronology of what people said and did while I was at Dartmouth in a very factual manner and approaching a New Hampshire attorney who specializes in professional malpractice with the chronology and he will make the determination if I have grounds for litigation."

For future reference, first seek an attorney before making any unfounded threats.

The Dartblog makes note that,

"Title VII does not include language about harassment—only about discrimination. Courts have occasionally elected to find harassment illegal under the code, but only, like discrimination, employer-perpetrated harassment. Since students are not Ms. Venkatesan's employers, they cannot be named as defendants in a Title VII case."

Well thought-out plan Professor Venkatesan. This is as good as our planning in Iraq.

She also accused her students of asking questions "in a very demeaning way." When another student stepped in to answer for her, she said he "would be received with respect and deference that I was not."

...did she ever consider that maybe it was her incompetence that was at fault?

So when asked for specific instances, Venkatesan was only able to relay one event back…when the class applauded a student who opposed her postmodernism view. Venkatesan threw a professor tantrum and post-poned class for an entire week.

I would say the majority of professors here voice their own opinions on an issue in class. But those are usually respected individuals who welcome healthy discussion of views.

"I think that I have a good case because there were just so many instances – it was almost an incessant barrage – of hostility, nastiness and anti-intellectualism that I may just in fact have a case, but I'm not a lawyer."

Your lawsuit isn't hostile or nasty at all. And stifling intellectual discourse over your staunch postmodernist views also isn't anti-intellectual. And it’s clear already you aren’t a lawyer. Or quite possibly even a person.

In conclusion: Venkatesan = batsh*t crazy.

Source
Source
Source
Source
Source

Venkatesan Interview with the Review

Update:

Sources tell me that Venkatesan threatened to sue the Dartmouth Review because they recorded the interview.