Situation
Professor Mary Catherine Dunn is chatting informally with Roger Furness, a student, about his coursework experiences in the Department. Roger mentions that one of the things he likes best is the diversity of the faculty and the culture of tolerance in the Department. This isn’t at all like the culture of his neighborhood, he muses: “Like, all the students know that Professor Morgan is gay and it’s just cool.” Professor Morgan is a friend of yours. You know that he is, in fact, gay, but that he prefers to keep this fact private.
(based on a case in The Ethics of Teaching)
Questions
What are the implications of your ignoring the student’s remark?
If you choose to speak about Professor Morgan’s sexual orientation with this student, what tack do you take?
What is your obligation to Professor Morgan?
Discussion
If you choose not to respond to the student’s remark, you might want to consider whether or not you have an obligation to inform Professor Morgan of the students’ apparent knowledge and/or strategize with him about how to deal with this particular student and how you and/or he might best deal with the gossip that is circulating about his sexual orientation. You might also want to respond to the student by pointing out that there are aspects of other’s personal lives that are private and should not be speculated about without the permission of the person in question, lest one be in error and/or violate another’s privacy.
