He presented a proposal to the committee suggesting that any student who was enrolled in a science-related course, and who, at the conclusion of the course, continued to maintain a personal belief in creation, should receive a failing grade. Furthermore, Patterson said that if the university discovered that it inadvertently had conferred a degree upon a student who, upon having graduated, nevertheless believed in creation, the degree should be rescinded.
Proof you can be a good teacher and still be an idiot.
Tell me: if you enrolled in a Catholic seminary (or, to avoid needless sectarianism, just assume the religious trainign academy of your choice) and at the conclusion of your training professed a belief that Ba'al was your lord and master, and that the universe was sneezed out the nose of the Great Green Arkleseizure... what kind of priest would you be?
If you trained to be an engineer, and at the conclusion of your studies you maintained that F=M+A and that the ultimate structual material would be an alloy of butter, paint and wishing real hard, what kind of engineer would you be?
If you trained to be a doctor and at the end professed that the germ theory of disease was bunk and that one must treat the "humours," what kind of doctor would you be?
In all these cases, assume that you passed all your courses with flying colors. Yay! But you're still an idiot. And the school in question would know that its reputation and even accreditation would be put at risk, not to mention the lives (or souls, as you wish) of an unsuspecting public if they unleashed you upon them with a diploma.