Last Friday, David Sorbello an adjunct lecturer who teaches ‘Intro to Sociology’ at the State University of New York College at Geneseo gave his students an unsavory quiz that could very well be interpreted as transphobic. “Female or Shemale: can you tell?” read a slide projected by Sorbello.
https://twitter.com/notamathlete/status/921388828279132161
The picture of the questionable quiz was shared on social media where it became quickly became viral. According to Buzzfeed News, it was sophomore Jillian Sternberg, who is currently enrolled in Sorbello’s class who originally took the picture. According to the SUNY Geneseo student, the quiz was an unexpected surprise during a class where the discussed topics ranged from gender to sexuality and back to sexual identity. The teacher’s explanation for the scandalous quiz caused confusion among the students, according to Sternberg.
“He just said, ‘We want you to write whether it’s female or she-male,’” Sternberg said. “He never said what the point of the quiz was during the class, but when I addressed him afterward he said it was partly for humor and partly to discuss sexual dimorphism.”
The session, however, didn’t include any discussion about sexual dimorphism, or the physical, nonreproductive differences between males and females of the same species, she said.
Jillian Sternberg to Buzzfeed
If David Sorbello’s transphobia wasn’t apparent enough, his allegedly raunchy comments during the quiz made it more than obvious that the teacher has a quarrel against the trans community. “He said something along the lines of, ‘Be careful not to get too drunk or you’ll take the wrong one home,” Sternberg said to BuzzFeed. “He would comment on some of the pictures like, ‘I’m definitely not going to the bar with you.’”
https://twitter.com/notamathlete/status/921389541294067712
Jasmine Cui, member of a diversity group on SUNY Geneseo’s campus, shared on Twitter a screenshot of the vilified teacher’s email to students on Friday after the test was taken, instituting a new rule that prohibits students to take pictures of the lecture slides, probably because he became aware of social media scandal the picture of his quiz had already caused.
https://twitter.com/notamathlete/status/921429726492839936
President of SUNY Geneseo Denise A. Battles released a statement last Friday evening, where she claims that university officials will investigate Sorbello’s unorthodox teaching method. “A professor is reported to have presented materials and made comments about which some students have expressed concern, we are taking the matter very seriously and are gathering the facts to determine if and what action is warranted.”
https://twitter.com/notamathlete/status/921430102793162753
However, students are claiming that this isn’t the first time Sorbello has made a joke at a minority’s expense and more than 200 students have already signed a petition demanding his immediate termination.
Article inspired by Splinter News // University Will Investigate Professor Who Gave Students Transphobic ‘Female or Shemale’ Quiz