The ongoing controversy over the conduct of a La Laguna University lecturer said to have humiliated his students with tirades of abuse shows no signs of waning.
The alleged conduct came to light when a female student on the university’s journalism course posted complaints on social media that just two of nearly one hundred students had passed a key exam set by the lecturer, who she accused not only of not adhering to approved marking criteria but also of constantly humiliating his classes with derogatory comments about their ability. The student, who has filed a formal complaint with the university, says she was told by the lecturer to “go off up Mt Teide and pen poetry if she liked to write” as she was not fit for journalism.
University vice-chancellor Francisco García said that a full internal inquiry had been ordered into the allegations, which include reports that many students have dropped out of the course in the past because of the lecturer’s behaviour.
As the row rumbles on, it has emerged that the university appears to have asked journalist and ex-student Lucía Rodríguez to remove a video – filmed on the steps of the main building and posted on Instagram – accusing it of “looking the other way” in cases of alleged abuse by its lecturers.
Rodríguez refers to various well-known controversies involving La Laguna academics, including one who was jailed for 21 months for sex offences committed against seven women students almost a decade ago. In another, a lecturer is said to have harassed a student by sending her dozens of inappropriate messages asking her to meet him outside university.
In the video, which attracted 400,00 viewings in a matter of hours, she describes La Laguna University as a centre of learning where “fear, abuse, harassment, threats and humiliation are included in the tuition fees” and invited students to “break the wall of silence” and come forward with their stories.
Responding to the posting, the vice-chancellor insisted that “internal procedures are always followed” when reports of misconduct are received although they may often have to be halted pending the outcome of criminal proceedings. He took the unusual step of posting his own video criticising those who knowingly spread false information that damages the university’s name and honour, which it is prepared to defend in the courts if necessary.
