Put the students first

I am reminded of a quote from Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson's movie, Starsky and Hutch. In the movie, Hutch (Owen Wilson) had just been betrayed by his partner, Starsky (Stiller). Hutch was refusing to speak to his partner when the divine wisdom of Huggy Bear, a pimp played by Snoop Doggy Dog, had this conversation:


Huggy Bear: Dig this man. Someone once said: "To err is human, to forgive divine."


Hutch: Tch. What idiot said that?


Huggy Bear: I believe that was God - the greatest mack of all.


MSU students don't get the greatest education. Some can...MSU has the resources and some very gifted faculty, so if a student pushes himself or herself hard enough, they can come away with a degree and be just as prepared for a career as someone graduating from a more prestigious university. But there is a general feeling of defeat shared by the student body and, in part, the faculty. MSU has a very difficult time retaining talented professors, as they are lured away by money or prestige. No department knows this any better than the Government Department. In the few years that I have been here, one professor was fired, one arrested, and two have left to "greener pastures." It isn't that the professors remaining aren't skilled scholars; in fact, it is exactly the opposite. The professors in the government department are some of the most-skilled, dedicated professors Morehead has to offer. There just isn't enough of them. Which brings me to the case in point:

Morehead State might have the opportunity to bring one of those professors back.

Professor Noelle N'Diaye was arrested last year for possession of crack cocaine and and child endangerment. There were also rumors that her friendship with some of her students jeopardized her professionalism and ethics as a professor.

She has suffered the public humiliation of her peers, students, and community and has to live with the fact that she failed the black community in helping perpetuate racial stereotypes in a predominately white community, and failing to uphold the standards that she taught in her classes.

But more than anything, her crime should serve as a warning to the rest of drug-afflicted Appalachia. No one is immune to addiction. Professor N'Diaye is an intelligent, driven civil servant and was the last person anyone thought would fall to addiction.

But the past is the past, and we are in the present. She has completed her rehabilitation with full cooperation and has recommitted herself to her family and her faith. She is not being charged with a felony and is serving no time because the courts don't see a point in further punishing a repentant woman who has all the characteristics of an ideal citizen and is a benefit to the city of Morehead.

Why isn't Morehead State seeing it, too?

Professor N'Diaye made students passionate about learning. She made them passionate about government and empowered students to become better informed, more-aware citizens. More importantly, she made students feel like they mattered.

Drugs are a horrible thing, and Professor N'Diaye sacrificed her career and her reputation because of it; and in doing so, she made us realize the pervasiveness of addiction and served as a warning to her students.

I admittingly do not know all of the circumstances leading to Professor N'Diaye's firing, nor do I know if she would be willing to come back to MSU; but, I can speak for myself, and I would be more than willing to accept Noelle N'Diaye back into the Morehead State community and would be thrilled to have her teaching classes again. I strongly believe that no matter what her actions were that led to her dismissal, it cannot compare to everything that she has to offer Morehead State students and the Morehead State community.

If Morehead State can let bygones be bygones and put the education of its students first, it will do everything in its power to allow Professor N'Diaye back into a classroom.