Remember the students

In a flurry of emails, social media posts and action on behalf of students and faculty, Denise Bennett became a well-known name over the past week. 

The University of Idaho Journalism and Mass Media faculty member was placed on administrative leave Thursday after sending an email laced with expletives to administration officials and others about grant project funding. In the time since the email was sent out, Bennett received her terms and conditions of leave Tuesday, hosting a live stream to read them in a near 30-minute segment that unleashed the same expletive-laced thoughts. 

According to the terms and conditions, Bennett was placed on leave following “unprofessional conduct” with College of Letters Arts and Social Sciences Dean Sean Quinlan and another university employee.

Students quickly rallied around Bennett, staging sit-ins, making t-shirts and hats and starting a petition to reinstate her that has gained 850 signatures in support. 

The issue that has quickly unfolded over the past week is one made up of communication errors and mishaps on both sides of those involved. 

Bennett should have been made aware of the remaining funds at her disposal for her project before they expired. Documentary projects like Bennett’s are time consuming and require extensive funding. Bennett deserved better communication. 

Once she was on leave, CLASS administration then owed it to her to communicate with her properly and efficiently the terms and conditions of the leave. She was reportedly told she would have official documentation of her leave shortly, but the letter containing the information did not arrive until Tuesday morning — five days after she was expecting it. 

Back on campus, word moved fast. Posters of the professor covered the department halls. The petition to bring her back was plastered across social media. But no official acknowledgement or explanation came to students until almost 2 p.m. Tuesday — mere hours before her class was set to start, leaving students with little understanding as to how their learning would proceed. 

To say the university and the college involved faltered on the communication front would be putting it lightly. 

However, Bennett is considered a professional faculty member at the university. The way she handled this situation did not reflect that ideal — it did not reflect what UI students deserve. 

Bennett made her case clear from the get-go — she needed the funding and it slipped through the cracks due to poor communication. 

However, she quickly made a bad thing even worse. In a YouTube live stream, Bennett not only restated the previous messages that got her placed on leave, but ramped them up. 

She used language that no university professional and student mentor should use in regard to the institution that their students rely on.

In the wake of this week’s drama and Wednesday morning’s unexpected Vandal Alert, the people who have been hurt the most are students. Many JAMM students are without their intended professor and adviser and many students across campus were confused or jarred by the Vandal Alert that broke Wednesday morning. 

Although there are many aspects of our university in limbo, one thing is for certain — students know how to stick together. 

When the university fails to communicate, students speak up and speak out. When students find a gap in information, they find a way to fill it. 

When students feel they have been wronged, they find a way to make it right.

For more information, follow the links below.

Vandal Alert, professor spark controversy

Students for Denise speak at ASUI Senate

BREAKING: UI warns students of professor ‘barred from campus’

Students protest to support Bennett

— Editorial Board