Thread: FL - Professor makes class sign “Vote for Obama” pledge

Professor Made Students Sign ‘Vote for Obama’ Pledge

Posted in Top Stories | 137 comments

Sep 17, 2012
By Todd Starnes
A Florida community college has launched an investigation and placed a tenured professor on leave over reports that she made students in a math class sign a pledge to vote for President Obama.
A spokesman for Brevard Community College told Fox News that Sharon Sweet was placed on an unpaid leave of absence effective immediately after they received a call from a concerned parent.
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“The allegations center on her soliciting support in her classes for President Obama in the upcoming election,” said college spokesman John Glisch in a statement to Fox News.
The website Watchdogwire.com, which first reported the allegations, said the students were told to sign a pledge that read: “I pledge to vote for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket.”
They were also given bookmarks from gottavote.org - a website paid for by the Obama-Biden campaign — targeting young voters, the website reported.
Glisch said they learned of the incident last Thursday and launched an immediate investigation. He said they plan on interviewing as many as 100 students to determine who may have signed the pledge.
“The college has specific policies that address the political activities of faculty and staff, which state that no college employee shall solicit support for a political candidate during regular college work hours or on college property,” Glisch said.
He said Sweet asked for — and was granted an immediate leave of absence without pay — effective immediately.
Sweet is a tenured professor who has been at the college for five years, he said. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, she could be exonerated, suspended or terminated.
Glisch said steps are also being taken to make sure all faculty and staff are aware of policies on political activity.
Todd Starnes is the author of Dispatches From Bitter America – endorsed by Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. Click here to get your copy.




Professor Made Students Sign

Professor makes class sign “Vote for Obama” pledge

A citizen, whose nephew attends Brevard Community College, reports that he brought home the below bookmark pledging to vote for President Obama. The bookmark and pledge was handed out during a mathematics class taught by Assistant Professor Sharon Sweet. This occurred “while the student was in class at the request of his College Algebra teacher, Sharon Sweet, from Brevard Community College in [Melbourne] Florida.”

On the tear away GOTTAVOTE.org pledge form that students recieved, was the requirement to “state their party affiliation”. The student reported that Sweet has repeatedly stated her personal political views in support of President Obama in class. The student noted, “There is an older gentleman in the class that will argue with her but he said most of the students did not.”



Actress and Singer Tatyana Ali supporting GOTTA VOTE



GOTTAVOTE.org is a site paid for by the Obama-Biden campaign to urge Floridians to register and vote. The website is targeted at young voters.

It appears Sweet may have violated the College’s harrassment policy by handing out the GOTTA VOTE pledge. The Brevard Community College policy on harassment states:

Definition of Harassment
Harassment is any repeated or unwelcome verbal or physical abuse which intimidates or causes the recipient discomfort or humiliation or which interferes with the recipient’s educational or job performance. Any form of harassment related to an employee’s, applicant’s, student’s, or student applicant’s race, ethnicity, color, genetics, religion, national origin, age, gender, gender preference, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, ancestry or political affiliation is a violation of this policy. [Emphasis added]

Brevard College policy states, “Any employee or student of this institution, who is found to have harassed another employee or student … will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination, suspension and or expulsion, within the provisions of applicable current College Procedures and Board rules.”

NOTE: According to the Brevard Community College staff directory, Sharon Sweet is an Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Department at the Melbourne Campus. A request for comment has been sent to Ms. Sweet and Ms. Darla Ferguson, Chief Equity & Diversity Officer for Brevard Community College.
Professor makes class sign "Vote for Obama" pledge | WatchDogWire - Florida

I heard on the radio this socialist professor was terminated.