Professor on leave after video about grades

BIG RAPIDS » A Michigan university professor has been placed on leave after he told students in a profanity-laced video that he randomly assigns grades before the first day of class.

“I don’t even want to know your name,” said Barry Mehler of Ferris State University in Big Rapids. “I just look at the number and assign a grade. That is how predestination works. ... Take your complaints to God. He ordained this system, not me.”

In the 14-minute video, Mehler, 74, called students “vectors of disease” and said they didn’t need to attend class 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 displayed in the video.