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| Letitia Chai protests during clas at Cornell University. |
ASAM NEWS
A student told by a professor that her shorts were too short protested by stripping to her undies, reports the Cornell Sun.
Twenty-eight of 44 students in the conference room to hear the student’s thesis also began slowly removing their clothes in support.
The disagreement between Cornell student Letitia Chai and Professor Rebekah Maggor began during a draft presentation of the thesis.
“Is that really what you would wear?” Maggor asked in an apparent reference to Chai’s cutoff shorts.
The NY Daily News reported the incident happened during an “acting in public” class.
“I do not tell my students what to wear, nor do I define for them what constitutes appropriate dress,” Maggor said to The Sun. “I ask them to reflect for themselves and make their own decisions.”
Chai said she was stunned by her teacher’s reaction who she said told her that her attire would be distracting for men.
“I am not responsible for anyone’s attention,” said Chai. “I’ve gotten so many messages from students … [saying] ‘this happens to me in so many different classes on so many different occasions. That is not okay.”
Chai held her public demonstration several days after given the warning by her teacher. She reportedly was granted permission for the demonstration in advance.
About a dozen students wrote their own statement regarding the incident, saying they supported Chai’s protest, but disputed her characterization of Maggor saying the professor was very supportive of feminist views.
Chai streamed her thesis presentation live on Facebook. She thanked her parents for tuning in from Korea.
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