14 DAY TRIAL // A Florida Atlantic University student has complained about an exercise he refused to take part in in class, and has received a suspension as a result.
Ryan Rotela, who is in his junior year at FAU and attends classes on the Davie, Florida campus tells CBS 12 about failing to comply with the teacher's requirement to write down the word “Jesus” on a sheet of paper then stomp on the paper.
Rotela is a member of the Mormon church and is very involved in religious activities, dubbing himself a devout believer.
He saw the symbolism in the gesture and refused to disregard what his faith tells him. He feels that the incident was insulting to his religious beliefs and to his intelligence.
“Anytime you stomp on something it shows that you believe that something has no value. So if you were to stomp on the word Jesus, it says that the word has no value,” he explains.
“He had us all stand up and he said ‘Stomp on it.’ I picked up the paper from the floor and put it right back on the table.
“I said to the professor, ‘With all due respect to your authority as a professor, I do not believe what you told us to do was appropriate. I believe it was unprofessional and I was deeply offended by what you told me to do,’” Rotela describes.
The exercise was part of an Intercultural Communications class, the teacher of which was trying out an activity listed in the “Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition” textbook.
After he went to the board to complain about associate professor Dr. Deandre Poole, Rotela received a suspension from said class.
“Faculty and students at academic institutions pursue knowledge and engage in open discourse. While at times the topics discussed may be sensitive, a university environment is a venue for such dialogue and debate,” FAU reps have stated in an email.