New York University dismissed an organic chemistry professor before the fall 2022 semester after 82 of his 350 students signed a petition against him, saying that his class was too difficult.
Organic chemistry is what's often deemed a "weed out" class for students pursuing careers in the medical field, but the petition raised the question of who really holds the power in higher education.
The professor, Maitland Jones, taught the subject for more than five decades, first at Princeton and then NYU. He wrote an op-ed in The Boston Globe defending his position and looking for ways students, faculty, and administrators could work together to help students.
In the aftermath of Jones' dismissal, Jessica Calarco, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin who specializes in inequalities in education, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing that "weed out" classes benefit privileged students. She joined Something Offbeat to discuss the power struggle in higher education.