In a lecture video posted to a University of Minnesota nursing school class Canvas page, lecturers were captured calling students “little shits” and “dirty little rats.”
In the video, Dawn Fredrich and Raney Linck, clinical assistant professors in the school of nursing, expressed frustrations they had regarding students in the class, their responses and specific assignment results. In the post-lecture section of the recording, Fredrich can be heard calling students “dirty little rats” and “super weak.”
The video surfaced on social media after former Minnesota Daily reporter Audrey Kennedy tweeted out a link to the lecture.
SCOOP: These University of Minnesota Nursing program instructors upload their Zoom lectures online. This time, they forgot to stop the recording and proceeded to ridicule students and their work, calling them “dirty little rats” and “little shits”. (1/4)https://t.co/QgAD21cZ2t
— Audrey Kennedy (@_AudreyKennedy) October 22, 2020
The video has since been removed from YouTube, but clips of the lecture where instructors can be heard talking about the students have been re-uploaded with the screen blurred to protect student information.
A spokesperson for the University said that the School of Nursing received a formal complaint from nursing students “regarding a possible violation of University policy by the faculty,” and the school has initiated a formal review of the complaint.
The University has also submitted the complaint to University Information Security and FERPA for review.
“The School is committed to ensuring all NURS 3801 students receive a continued high-quality learning experience and are able to meet all the course requirements and objectives,” said University spokesperson Katrinna Dodge. “To that end, the School is reaching out to those students individually to ensure they have the academic and other support they need.”
Fredrich, who did the majority of the talking throughout the video, also calls one student a “little shit” for having submitted an assignment late, with the student’s name clearly visible. She later said one person had given her “flak” for a specific simulation.
“God, she drives me crazy. Crazy,” Fredrich said in the video.
Cristine*, a junior in the nursing school who wished to remain anonymous due to concern about disciplinary action, said she was disappointed by the instructors, given her prior relationship with Fredrich and the School of Nursing’s small size.
“I was immediately disgusted,” Cristine said. “As someone who’s in the nursing school myself, and actually looked up to Dawn, I have actually gone to her for personal advice and told her personal things about myself. I really regret telling her those things now seeing how she is talking about students.”
The course, NURS 3801: Patient Centered Care: Caring for Adults I, is a required class for those in the nursing school. Fredrich and Linck are the only instructors available for the course.
Fredrich and Linck could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.
Christine Mueller, Senior Executive Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Carol Flaten, Director of Pre-licensure Programs, will lead the class when it resumes next Thursday, according to the University.
