After a Tik Tok video made the rounds on social media last week of a Zoom video conference involving a college professor and a hard-of-hearing student, the professor has been put on leave.
An investigation is ongoing.
The Oxnard College professor allegedly said critical comments to a hard of hearing student during the Zoom physiology class last week, according to a CNN story.
"I'm hard of hearing," the student said in response to professor Michael Abram, who is identified in the video by name and by a student in his class.
Abram had been asking the student why she wasn't answering him.
"Why don't we talk sometime? Why don't you email me? We'll set up a live Zoom and we're going to have some real communication at some point in time," he said. "Maybe you can have your counselor join us, OK? Do you hear me? OK, wonderful, do that," he said in the CNN story.
CNN reported it tried to reach Abram but had not heard back.
The faculty member has been placed on administrative leave, according to President Luis Sanchez in a statement on Twitter.
Another student even explained to the professor that the fellow student is hard of hearing. The professor "tells the student who is hard of hearing to 'have your counselor speak with me because you've got too much distraction to even understand what is going on.'"
The student told him and the class that her translator is sitting near her and explaining what the professor is saying.
The Ventura County Community College District also released a statement last week: "The Ventura County Community College District is deeply troubled by the behavior seen in a video posted on social media by students on Feb. 18, showing an interaction between a student who is hard-of-hearing and an Oxnard College faculty member.
"The Ventura County Community College District is opposed to any language or behavior which is offensive or harmful to anyone based on gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age or disability,” stated Board Chair Joshua Chancer. “Comments in the video do not reflect the District’s values of integrity and honesty in action and word, respect and the constant pursuit of excellence."
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