A University of Georgia professor resigned Tuesday after a student in his class reportedly refused to wear a mask.
Irwin Bernstein, 88, was teaching a psychology seminar when a female student allegedly arrived at the class without a mask. She was told to retrieve one from the advising office and offered a mask by another student, which she reportedly did not wear over her nose.
“This student had missed the first day of class, but I informed her of my health condition and asked that all wear masks,” Bernstein told the Washington Examiner. “She had none but another student gave her a spare.”
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The professor had written “no mask, no class” on the board, one of the students in the seminar said. Bernstein clarified to the Washington Examiner that that message had been removed “from the first day of class after speaking with my Department Head, who offered a larger room and tried to work with me to solve the problem.”
Bernstein reportedly asked the student again to pull up her mask, but when she refused, he resigned from his teaching role and left the classroom.
“At that point I said that whereas I had risked my life to defend my country while in the Air Force, I was not willing to risk my life to teach a class with an unmasked student during this Pandemic,” Bernstein said in a statement to the Red and Black, the school’s independent student newspaper. “I then resigned my retiree-rehire position.”
“Resignation was an all or none decision. … I felt some relief as I had been getting more concerned as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in recent weeks,” he continued.
Bernstein told the Washington Examiner that the student did not mention anything about not being able to breathe, only saying the mask was uncomfortable before taking it off.
“She said to me that it was uncomfortable and took it off and I announced that I was retiring again and left and informed my department head. The student did not tell me anything about not being able to breathe,” Bernstein said. “Having raised four asthmatic children, I think I would have recognized respiratory distress. If she had told me that, I would have sought help for her.”
“Professor Bernstein said, ‘That’s it. I’m retired.’ And we watched him pack all of his papers into his bag and walk out of the classroom,” said Hannah Huff, a student in the class.
And she’s talking about some “blessing in disguise” crap like ma’am I’m just trying to graduate
— Hannah Banana (@hannahhuffn) August 24, 2021
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The damage is done. Obviously, she has her values, and they’re clearly not going to change even when someone asked you to do something that will make them feel comfortable,” Huff continued. “Bernstein is there for you [the student]. Like, he came out of retirement to do something for us, but you just can’t take it out of the kindness of your heart to put a piece of fabric on properly.”
The seminar is necessary for many psychology students to graduate, the Red and Black reported.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect Bernstein’s comments.
