Professor defends salty class video

DETROIT — A Michigan professor who was suspended after making a profanity-filled introductory video for his students said Friday that it was simply a humorous attempt “to get their juices flowing.”

“If a professor comes in and he’s all high and mighty and using words they don’t understand — that doesn’t help them relax and think. … It was a performance,” Barry Mehler said.

Mehler, who teaches history, was placed on leave last week at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, 155 miles northwest of Detroit, after school President David Eisler said he was “shocked and appalled” by the video.

“The president has never liked me,” said Mehler, 74.

In a 14-minute video at the start of a new term, he covered a range of topics, including grades, attendance, plagiarism, covid-19 and the HBO TV series “Deadwood.”

He said he randomly assigns grades before the first day of class. “That is how predestination works. … Take your complaints to God. He ordained this system, not me,” Mehler said.

But later in the video he also said that “everything you need to earn an A” is available on a class website.

Mehler, who is upset with the university over its refusal to require covid-19 vaccinations, called students “vectors of disease” and said they didn’t need to attend in person.

“I will not take questions in class because I’m wearing this … helmet in order to stay alive,” he said, a reference to an astronaut-style helmet with air filters.