By Kyle Graham, Staff Reporter |
Valentine’s Day … chocolates, cards, flowers, teddy bears, last second shopping, love blooming in the air.
Many individuals are not dating these days, but for those who are, there is a bit of a ruffle on the feathers of a lot of birdies.
Some people believe that love doesn’t discriminate. This is understandable, but where is the line drawn between students and professors? It is a rare occurrence, but is does happen, as controversial as it seems.
A few students and professors argue that professor-student relationships could be acceptable in rare circumstances for older students who are closer to the age of their instructors.
Many students are returning to college and their spouses happen to be instructors at AC. Others happen to find love in places they would not expect. Whatever the circumstance, this does bring up some difficult issues.
“For an existing marriage, it wouldn’t make sense for them to get a divorce when they can use their spouse’s employee scholarship,” said Samantha Jewett, a student adviser at AC.
Jewett also said that it would be less problematic for the student to take the class with another instructor. If instructor-student relationships are allowed, some students say they believe that people in these situations are going to get special treatment or will be distracted.
Many professors, administrators and students said they believe such relationships would be unethical or disruptive.
“I don’t think it would be acceptable at all,” Johanna Goode, a business management major, said.
Several students and instructors said that it might cause problems such as favoritism, pampering or free grades. It would be completely unfair for those going through the class, studying for countless hours and buckling down on a test just for someone to put their name on the test and get an automatic passing grade.
Love can bloom literally anywhere, but it is currently against AC policy for any members of staff and faculty to have any relations with students or vice versa and most individuals keep their personal business under lock and key.
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