Student allegedly became alarmed at Farsi written on whiteboard, calls police on Persian language professor
A student attending the George Washington University allegedly became alarmed when he walked into a classroom and saw Farsi, the Persian language, written on the board, so he alerted authorities, however, the university’s spokeswoman says that the police were alerted due to a “scheduling conflict.”
According to the student newspaper, the GW Hatchet, the George Washington University police department allegedly escorted the professor of the Beginners Persian I, Maziar Valamotamed, out of the classroom last week and refused to allow the professor, a lecturer in the Persian language and culture program, to explain the situation. According to Lindsay Hamilton, the university’s spokeswoman, no one was escorted off the premises.
Students are demanding an apology from the university following the police being alerted to the classroom.
According to 15 students in Valamotamed’s class, the student who called the police was not taking the course and he alleged that he reserved the Oliver Reading Room in the school library at 4:30 p.m. Beginners Persian I is taught in that room, three times a week, until 4:35 p.m. or 5 p.m., depending on the day.
According to a sophomore in the class, Nikki Vafai, Valamotamed told the student to report the scheduling mixup to the academic scheduling office. The university’s classroom reservation and rental policies state class bookings take precedence over student bookings.
“It was such an easy miscommunication that could have been settled right off the bat with this kid,” freshman Parisa Akbarpour, a student in the class told the GW Hatchet.
Instead, the student left the room and returned with “multiple” George Washington University police department officers and two women from academic scheduling. Students say that Valamotamed was treated rudely, “as if there was some kind of criminal activity going on,” and the professor was escorted out by the officers, according to the GW Hatchet.
The 15 students sent a letter to four top administrators describing the incident, which they said they believed had discriminatory undertones, and alleged the student called the police when he saw the Persian writing on the board.
“I definitely think there’s some racial undertones,” freshman Daniel Turner, also a member of the Beginners Persian I class, told the GW Hatchet. “Even if that’s not the primary reason it happened, I think some of the disrespect came from that for sure.”
Lindsay Hamilton told Yahoo Lifestyle in a statement, “GWPD officers responded to a call regarding a classroom scheduling conflict. Ultimately, no one was removed from the room. The university has investigated the incident and is taking steps to prevent a similar issue in the future.”
Valamotamed did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment.
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