College Professor’s Bizarre Rant Terrifies Students Into Calling Police On First Day Of Class

Dent8 years ago

From going through the syllabus to having to do some sorry icebreaker, the first day of class usually isn’t the best.The first day of a night class of extended length can be especially terrible. But never have I ever had a first day of class go so off the rails that students had to call the police on their professor for fear of their safety.

From Fox 4:

Students attending a lecture at Tarrant County College were so frightened by their professor’s behavior during a recent class that they had to leave the room.

When TCC Adjunct Professor Daniel Mashburn walked into his Astronomy class Tuesday night, several students were alarmed by his behavior. Some thought it was a joke while others called police.

Student April McLeod says her teacher got to class about 20 minutes late and turned off the lights and was wearing a ball cap, a toboggan, a scarf over his face and gloves. She says Mashburn never took any of it off even when police questioned him after responding to calls from students.

Okay, so maybe this guy doesn’t “show up on time” or “reveal his face.” What’s wrong with a scarf and gloves? It is winter after all. Maybe he turned the lights off because his eyes are sensitive, we don’t know his story. As long as he was speaking coherently, there’s no reason to judge him yet.

“The kid next to me had said he was acting very strange, looked over at the girl next to me seemed very scared,” McLeod said.

Students say the professor talked about the Koran and the moon and the dark night and seemed incoherent and never discussed anything astronomy-related.

Okay, maybe he is starting to lose me. That does sound pretty bizarre. He may have wandered off his syllabus a little bit. Although to be fair, the moon and the dark night are kind of astronomy related if you want to get technical.

Lucky for us, Fox 4 was able to procure an interview with Professor Mashburn so that we could decide once and for all if he is a competent human being.

When asked if he told the college that he would have such an obscure teaching style, he responded.

I keep it secret. I keep it safe. I do my best, but I am tired of hiding in the shadows. I am tired of fearing their law. I fear Allah.

I do not know why they fear me. Why are they afraid? I’m a man who covers his face in his hand. I offer you nothing but the Koran a book and the universe. The universe is in my hand right here. You can look at it.

Verdict: This guy is kind of a total fucking lunatic. I do feel the need to point out that Tarrant County is a community college. Not knocking community colleges, but my parents always taught me that you get what you pay for. For instance, at my university part of what I was paying for included vetting the professors enough so that none would come in hot on day one and give weird religious rants that terrify everyone.

Professor Mashburn has been suspended indefinitely but hopes to soon get his job back. No way the scathing rating all of these students are about to give will at all keep him from doing so..

[via Fox 4]

Image via Wikimedia Commons