Posted on 05/09/2007 7:50:46 AM PDT by agent_delta
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - A 27-year-old Millersville University graduate filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the college for denying her an education degree and teaching certificate after a controversial Internet photograph surfaced last year shortly before graduation.
The picture shows Stacy Snyder of Strasburg wearing a pirate hat while drinking from a plastic "Mr. Goodbar" cup. The photograph taken during a 2005 Halloween party was posted on Snyder's MySpace Web page with the caption "Drunken Pirate."
"The day before graduation, the college confronted me about the picture," Snyder said Thursday. "I was told I wouldn't be receiving my education degree or teaching certificate because the photo was 'unprofessional.' "
Snyder said she apologized for the photograph, but Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, and Provost Vilas A. Prabhu refused to issue the bachelor of science degree in education and teaching certificate Snyder earned.
Instead, the college issued Snyder a bachelor of arts degree in English.
Millersville University spokesperson Janet Kacskos referred questions to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education spokesman Kenn Marshall, who declined comment.
Snyder, a single mother of boys ages 9 and 7, works as a nanny for a family in Lititz.
"I dreamed about being a teacher for a long time," Snyder said. "When I was growing up, I spent more time with my teachers than my own parents, and it inspired me to someday make a positive impact on children."
Attorney Mark W. Voigt of Plymouth Meeting filed the lawsuit after failing to negotiate a hearing with Prabhu and Bray.
"Stacy deserves to be a teacher," Voigt said Thursday. "The bottom line is we want the college to bestow the degree and teaching certificate that Stacy earned during four years of hard work and sacrifice."
The lawsuit also seeks $75,000 in compensatory damages.
The university, Bray, Prabhu and professor/student-teacher supervisor J. Barry Girvin are named in the suit.
Voight writes in the lawsuit that Snyder, a dean's list student, performed her student-teaching requirements in 2006 at Conestoga Valley High School.
Teachers Deann Buffington and Nicole Reinking advised Snyder.
On May 8, Buffington called Snyder at home about an "issue" about her "professionalism" as a teacher, according to the lawsuit.
Reinking viewed the "Drunken Pirate" picture of Snyder on myspace.com and showed it to Buffington.
Buffington gave it to Girvin, who told Snyder "she may lose her teaching certificate due to the incident," according to the lawsuit.
Girvin also issued a final student/teacher evaluation of Snyder and granted "superior" or "competent" ratings in all areas except "professionalism." He gave Snyder and "unsatisfactory" rating, according to the lawsuit.
"There were errors in judgment that relate to Pennsylvania's Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators," Girvin wrote in the evaluation.
On May 11, Girvin, Buffington and Reinking showed the "Drunken Pirate" photograph to Snyder, according to the lawsuit.
Buffington told Snyder that posting the photograph on the Internet was "unprofessional" and Conestoga Valley students might find it offensive.
Buffington also accused Snyder of "incompetence" and "claimed she should have been removed from her student-teaching position months ago."
Conestoga Valley officials told the college their students wouldn't be allowed to perform student-teacher requirements there if Snyder was not punished, according to the lawsuit.
Bray met with Snyder May 12. She accused Snyder of "promoting underage drinking through her 'drunken pirate' photo. Bray then stripped Snyder of her education degree and teaching certification, according to the lawsuit.
Snyder graduated the next day with an English degree.
This young lady should write a book on how to really pi$$ off do-gooder educational folks who havn’t a clue about life nor a sense of humor. What a crock of camel hockey!(then she should go puke on the college president’s desk and the dean of student’ desk.)
You're right. It's your age.
You want freedom... but only for yourself. There should be a law against everybody else!
How about doing something novel? How about becoming the first youngun on your block to use a little common sense. If you want a little privacy, don't broadcast your life on a frickin' global billboard!
Why not?
Specifically point out exactly what she has done wrong.
Maybe Ms. Snyder thought they were more like 'guidelines'. ;o)
I knew there had to be more to the story. Glad someone has heard the details.
Prove it wasn't.
Oh, you can't?
Brace yourself for a lawsuit, then.
She's 27. Does anybody seriously think teachers don't drink?
“Actions have consequences....”
Yep, like the bait-and-switch the college has performed on her. The consequences for that are going to be severe.
“The beatings will continue until morale improves”
Great song !!!
I went to Conestoga High. This is the least the students’ have seen.
Wow. Really? Does the Conestoga Valley have alot of Pirate-Americans?
My thoughts on this fall in the category of its all fair game.
To me personally, I'm of the notion that the less personal information about me that shows up in databases and online the better, and myspace and facebook by their very nature are to put information out there for other people to view.
Even though you'd prefer that only your friends see it, you still put it out there voluntarily, knowing that the potential exists that someone else might see it.
In my job I've done some interviewing and if I interviewed someone who said they had a page and I had the opportunity to view it, I would view it.
From there, it would obviously shape my opinion about the person.
I'm not saying I would reccommend not hiring someone for an innocent picture showing them with a beer or two under their belt, (truth be known, I've been known to have one or two myself), but if I saw a dozen pictures of the person vomiting into wastebaskets at parties, then I'd probably move on to another candidate.
I personally know grade school teachers (male & female) who have thrown drunken homosexual orgy costume parties. You name it and it was going on. I was invited but on the advice of another, I declined the invitations. I did however, see the photos after the fact.
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