Stacy Snyder was denied a teaching degree, and was instead granted a degree in English, by the administration at Millersville University last summer. The reason was a photo on her MySpace account (since deleted) that showed her in a pirate’s hat at a Halloween party. The photo was captioned “Drunken Pirate.”
During her student teaching, her cooperating teacher found out about the posting, and claimed it was unprofessional. Snyder apologized, said she was not drunk in the photo, and took the photo down. However, she was terminated from her student teaching, and the administration at Millersville would not grant her a teacher’s credential, nor a teaching degree.
Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, accused Snyder of promoting underage drinking. Snyder has filed a lawsuit against the University, claiming $75,000 in damages.
Is this “unprofessional”
photo sufficient evidence to
revoke a teaching
degree? Vote below.
Here is a news video of Snyder that shows the actual photo, and her reaction to whole event.
Whether you agree with the University’s actions or not, this brings up powerful questions about public postings on MySpace and other websites. I know that teens and students consider those postings their own private space, and rarely consider the implications of having their postings and photos in the public space.
But that aside, do you think that Millersville University did the right thing? Was a pirate photo captioned “Drunken Pirate” sufficiently unprofessional to warrant withholding the teaching degree and certificate?
Tell me what you think in the following poll, and please scroll down to post a comment to explain your position.
Noways, how can they refuse the degree of someone because of the way they wear.It is unfair to be gugded by your look.