At Clemson, I took 3 Spanish classes. Spanish 104 was a condensed version of 101 and 102 for those who had taken Spanish in high school. 201 and 202 were slightly higher level. I learned, after the fact, that my high school Spanish teachers had done a really excellent job, and that I should have simply asked to test out of all those classes. However, because I knew the material, I was able to recognize good teaching.
I had the same professor for 104 and 201. He was really good because he really tried to make us learn Spanish. He made us actively try to speak Spanish and learn the language.
Then there was my 202 professor, Gloria Bautista. I can honestly say that one semester of her class provided me with zero benefit. I could have skipped class every day without detriment, aside from the “you must attend class every day or lose points” detriment to my grade. In a 202 level class, the primary activity should be speaking the language. We had covered most of the verb forms and a lot of vocabulary through 201. The best way to improve your knowledge of the language is use it. So what did Sra. Bautista include in her lesson plans? Sometimes she told us to do work in a workbook which she would sometimes check for completion. Mostly she showed us tapes of an “educational” soap opera called “Destinos.” On occasion, she also filled our class time with political propaganda.
Well now Sra. Bautista is suing Clemson. This professor, whose regular student reviews must have been some of the worst on campus, is suing because she lost “her tenured full professorship in November 2006.” She got shitcanned and rightfully so. Now she claims she was discriminated against because of her “race and national origin.”
I hope Clemson calls me in for the trial. I’ll be more than happy to set the record straight. She was a bitch of the first order. She didn’t care about teaching, at least not at the 202 level, a level far below her stature. It was clear that she was pissed off that she was stuck in Podunk, South Carolina. She wanted to wear her designer clothes and drive her Mercedes around in New York City. Now that she’s canned she is living in New York. Moreover, for someone being paid so poorly, she certainly had a lot of nice things. The common belief is that she married very well then divorced, sued, and got a sweet-ass settlement.
And as for how much discrimination there is going on, consider that the professor I had for 104 and 201 was the department chair. And gay. Really, really gay.