Can university compel professor to use student's requested title? Ohio lawsuit

Religion has no place in the classroom - education should be secular unless it’s specifically a faith school. The professor should behave professionally and leave his religion at the classroom door.

Also it’s accepted in our society that people can identify as male/female, but you can’t identify as a doctor if you don’t hold the appropriate qualifications. You can’t identify as a professor, priest, vicar or any other job title.

But Countess, what if a woman objects to the sexist ‚Miss‘? It is not like he‘d Have had to give up a universally welcome type of greeting.

I do understand if he became stubborn due to the unacceptable behavior, and, as I said, compelled speech is always a problem, just sayin I find it hard to believe that surenames or first names only would be less welcome by the students than ‚Miss‘.

We wouldn't for example say to a Muslim prisoner 'bullshit, you've been drinking alcohol for years so you're not getting halal food.'

That's true. In general terms, though, I would feel more sympathy for a devout person who was being asked to do something which conflicted with their religion, than I would for someone who flagrantly disregarded most tenets of their faith.

whether he scrupulously adhered to all aspects of his religion, or was just making a point about this one.

If someone doesn't eat bacon and state it is because of their beliefs, does that make it OK to feed them bacon because they don't follow all aspects of that religion? Which flavour of their religion is a bare minimum for them to be allowed to refuse bacon? Do they have to pray the requisite amount for their beliefs about pig meat to count? Wear articles of religious clothing?

'
I think I would need to know more about the professor's religious convictions before judging him; and whether he scrupulously adhered to all aspects of his religion, or was just making a point about this one.'

I see your point, but we don't normally approach it like that, do we? We wouldn't for example say to a Muslim prisoner 'bullshit, you've been drinking alcohol for years so you're not getting halal food.'

I simply do not understand the basis for the claim - the professor wasn't singling the person out - they were using exactly the same treatment as everyone else - ie. using the title which corresponds with their sex. He offered a compromise (ie. special treatment) - to use the person's name only, and this was rejected, he then even went so far as to comply, but note that it was under duress, and that still wasn't enough for the complainant.

Frankly the person being an arse here is the one not only wanting special treatment, but only the one type of special treatment that means compelling the professor to go against his beliefs.

Because of his religious convictions, he feels unable to address a male student as "Miss."

I think I would need to know more about the professor's religious convictions before judging him; and whether he scrupulously adhered to all aspects of his religion, or was just making a point about this one.

Also he did offer to use the title as a courtesy in class but with a note on his syllabus that he was doing so under compulsion. That sounds to me like quite a big compromise, but the university rejecting it suggests they are trying to compel not just his speech but his beliefs - it's thoughtcrime, basically.

I hope he wins his case. The cunt comment suggests to me that this is not a student in distress. If I was another student in the class, I might be pissed off that the professor was being forced to call me by my surname because of one single student who’s being an asshole.

I agree with TheCountess. He sounds exasperated, as well he might given the current climate in universities.

The choice the professor has been given is either to lie, or to change the way he treats everyone in order to make one student happy.
What if some of the other students don't like being called by their surnames? Or the professor has good reasons for wanting to use titles (eg creates an atmosphere of formality he considers conducive to learning)? He doesn't sound obnoxious to me.

All I know about this case is the article linked to in the OP.

"Now, to me it seems weird that this guy wouldn't just use the title as a courtesy in class, or else switch to first names for everyone. He doesn't seem to have tried very hard to find a solution that wouldn't single this student out. Basically he sounds like kind of an a-hole."
After the student called him a cunt, it does NOT seem weird to me that the Prof refused to submit by calling the student 'Miss' - because it would be a submission. And why should HE be the one to find a solution, when he wasn't the one who created the problem? He doesn't sound like an arsehole to me, he sounds exasperated.

It does sound like six of one and half a dozen of the other. But the teacher sounds rather obnoxious.

So if someone decides that their title is Professor, despite not having any academic qualifications, then should everyone else be forced to use that title?

What about Your Majesty?

I dare say that you can buy a professorship off the internet anyways.

Buy a professorship

Here we go. 55 Euro and it is yours.

Compelling speech is problematic, no doubt. But, heck, refusing to use last names (or, alternatively, first names) without title throughout class is obnoxious.