Anti-gun professor wrestles over whether to write reference for pro-gun student
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A science professor’s personal feelings about firearms is leading her to consider instituting her own form of gun control -- refusing to write a letter of recommendation for a student gun enthusiast.
Writing under a pseudonym, Myrtle Lynn Payne, the instructor at an unidentified western college, said she’s conflicted about whether to honor the girl’s request for a recommendation note, given the professor’s deep disdain for guns.
“How can I say that I don’t want to support students who are gun enthusiasts, without getting put on some sort of list?” she wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education on April 18.
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“Payne” admits growing up around guns, but said her mother removed them from the home after her father was diagnosed as a manic-depressive. Now she teaches in a “red meat” area.
“This is what people do in their free time here: guns and pancakes,” she wrote. “Welcome to America, professor.”
Payne introduces the student, given the pseudonym “Sarah,” when the girl talks to the class about firing an AK-47 at a gun range during her winter break.
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“I gave the usual ‘very good, moving on’ response, but was thinking, ‘Whoa, that’s disturbing,” Payne wrote.
In another instance, the teacher overhears the girl talking about obtaining a concealed-carry permit.
When Sarah later asks Payne to write her a recommendation for a teacher-credential program, Payne initially says “yes” because “I usually do.” But the more Payne thinks about it, the more she agonizes.
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“On one side are all of my ideas about supporting students, honoring their individuality and their journeys, creating a safe space for them (and myself), not taking things out of context, not overinterpreting,” Payne wrote. “On the other side are my memories of growing up in a situation where guns, people, and bullets had to be rigorously kept apart, lest they find each other in a tragic moment of instability.”
It is not clear if Sarah ever received a letter from Payne.