Posted on 05/01/2007 6:32:55 AM PDT by Fractal Trader
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - A woman denied a teaching degree on the eve of graduation because of a MySpace photo has sued the university.
Millersville University instead granted Stacy Snyder a degree in English last year after learning of her Web-published picture, which bore the caption Drunken Pirate.
I dreamed about being a teacher for a long time, said Snyder, 27, who now works as a nanny. Story continues below ↓advertisement
The photo, taken at a 2005 Halloween party, shows Snyder wearing a pirate hat while drinking from a plastic Mr. Goodbar cup. It was posted on her own MySpace site.
Although Snyder apologized, she learned the day before graduation that she would not be awarded an education degree or teaching certificate.
Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, accused Snyder of promoting underage drinking, the suit states.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Drinking beer from a plastic cup at a party is a far cry short of a DUI conviction.
It’s not a private school, but a public university. I’m not certain they’ll be able to make this stick.
"I dreamed of being a teacher for a long time. They should not be able to look at that photo. It was posted for my friends."
Following this logic, I get a Ferrari and an evening with Harris Faulkner of Fox News. I've dreamed of both for "a long time." There is also the matter of posting something on a public website.
If the woman was stupid enough to post a photo of herself with the caption, "drunken pirate", then I am thinking she is just smart enough to be a NEA member.
After all, we need to promote more diversity in the teaching profession. How many of you had drunken pirates as teacher? The need for drunken pirates in the classroom is critical.
Guilty!
She’s going to win that lawsuit big time.
This brings up another pet peeve of mine: are colleges a substitute mommy and daddy taking care of you while spoonfeeding you knowledge, or are they a business which the customer/student is paying for? Would anyone accept this crap from some trade school: Sure you took all your tests proving that you can install a Windows Vista system, but we have a picture of you wearing a Mac t-shirt so no certificate for you (well, maybe I could see Micro$oft doing that).
Its not just college students. I have a sister in law who has so many pictures of her children, home etc that we all wonder what is wrong with her. Its alarming how much info she gives out on her myspace and she is in her 40’s. I don’t even understand why she has a myspace....
See the pic below. Silly, maybe. Looking like a “fool”? Nope.
She isn’t even surrounded by a scene of revelry in the background, and for all we know it isn’t even beer in the cup, as if that mattered.
Sorry, this PC crap is insane.
Never leave a visual or written record of anything you want to keep private. If you don't want certain people to know about certain aspects of your life, MySpace is the worst place to reveal them.
Thank heaven she didn’t have a cigarette. They probably would have had her executed.
All kidding aside, she did the work, she’s entitled to the certificate. It’s her future employer’s business to check out her character and decide if they want her or not.
How in the world would the university know what was in the cup??
Could be chocolate milk, rocky road ice cream, iced tea.
I asked my nephew if Millersville was training teachers or priests.
“Could be chocolate milk, rocky road ice cream, iced tea.”
And at 25 years of age, maybe even *gasp*
BEER!!
Sheesh...
Yeah, keep reminding me that I owe a debt that I can never repay to the gentle and good Sisters of St. Dominic.
It is.. but the need to put up a page on the internet with pictures of yourself doing silly things for anyone to stumble upon isn’t exactly smart either.
I fixed it.:o)
I agree, employers have a right to choose the people that they hire and if they see something objectionable on a website...more power to em. But to deny a degree because of the flimsy reason they give doesn’t make sense. I always thought degrees were given because of academic performance, not on personal integrity. If that were so, I don’t think any person I know who went onto college would have graduated....some of those parties were wild.
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