Yawn Away—Politely

In what has become nothing short of an Internet sensation over the past week, a professor at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration proved especially short-fused when a student audibly yawned during his class. Demanding that the student identify himself or herself, the professor further raised his voice when no one came forward, asking why the student would not just “get up and walk the hell out.”

Indeed, we believe that students and professors alike deserve a certain base level of respect, and yawning conspicuously during class is certainly a breach of this respect. But although the professor’s inclination to get upset may have been understandable, his reaction was excessively and inappropriately harsh. To his credit, the professor and the dean of the school later apologized for the professor’s reaction—a necessary acknowledgement of unpaid respect. Still, the situation should never have escalated as it did.

College students are of the age where they should know how to comport themselves in public. Accordingly, college professors should expect only minimal interruptions during class, and a loud and perceptible yawn is certainly disruptive and disrespectful. Yawning may be involuntary, but tempering a yawn is something that students should attempt to do regardless of their level of exhaustion, simply out of respect for their professor and for other students in the class.

Still, even with the level of disrespect shown, it was highly inappropriate for the professor in this instance to use any language that was abusive or disrespectful in turn. Professors should never exhibit such derisive behavior toward their students, regardless of their level of anger or annoyance. There are better ways of handling such situations that do not make either party feel slighted or marginalized. Professors should be wary of how they react, even when they are upset.

In this case, the professor’s insistence on finding out who specifically had yawned was especially inappropriate. Despite the fact that the student was never identified, it was improper for the professor to attempt to single him or her out for a matter that was so trivial and that ought to have been overlooked via a more gracious response from the professor.

Of course, we should not jump to such quick conclusions without considering the circumstances that could have driven the professor to react in such a manner. In a video of the incident, the professor mentioned that this was not the first time something like this had happened; given that we are not aware of this situation’s full context, it could have been that the professor had given due warnings in the past and that this was the last straw. But, barring any extreme precedent set for this outburst, it seems the professor was certainly in the wrong.

Finally, we note the tremendous irony in the incident’s location—Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, an institution that prides itself on being a leader in hospitality management. In a place where teaching hospitality is paramount, we can only hope that this professor’s actions are inconsistent with his teachings.