Twitter slams professor for calling student 'entitled' after she asked for cheaper textbook option: 'I was mortified'

This is why Gmail has an “unsend” option.

21-year-old Skye tweeted a screenshot of an email exchange she had with one of her professors from 2019 that is indicative of a larger issue about the extra costs of a college education.

Skye emailed her senior seminar professor pointing out that one of the required readings cost an additional $40 (on top of the other $56 mandatory book) and could be easily accessed on Blackboard for free.

Blackboard is an online tool where teachers can post resources for their students for free, without the need to print out multiple copies.

Skye’s email concluded with her excitement about being a part of the course, which ironically was about poverty and homelessness. The professor was not impressed.

Skye received a reply from her professor saying, “Check out this entitled student — ballsy.” At first she thought the email was only addressed to her and Skye quickly responded apologizing and explaining that she only wanted to point out that a $40 packet for students in a poverty and homelessness seminar could be accessed for free and without wasting paper.

But then, Skye noticed there were other email addresses included on the reply and realized her professor had accidentally included her in an email that was intended to go to other professors in the department to make fun of her.

“I realized she sent it to a whole slew of people, including people not even teaching at the school AND the chair of my major’s department and I lost it,” Skye wrote on Twitter.

Skye told the professor she was dropping the class and the professor emailed back (addressing her with an incorrect spelling of her name) and explained that the average class requires around $100 for books and she personally has tried to keep costs lower than that.

Except the $40 packet and the $56 book total to $96, which seems like not much of an effort.

“At first I was MORTIFIED!! I never ever meant to cause any trouble. She lied and said this packet was like $20 and it ended up being almost 50 when it could’ve been FREE on black board,” Skye said in a reply tweet.

Textbook costs have risen 1,000 percent since the 1970s and a 2014 report found that two-thirds of interviewed students didn’t buy all of their course materials because it was too expensive.

The majority of students who told the survey they couldn’t buy all of their textbooks said that it created added stress about their grades. Nearly half of the surveyed students in the 2014 report also said that the cost and number of textbooks impacted which courses they chose to take as well.

The cost of attending college in the U.S. has increased by 63 percent from 2006 to 2016. The College Board recommends students set aside an additional $1,200 a year for books, which is unfeasible for many students from low-income backgrounds or who are working part-time too. Some textbooks, alone, cost almost $300.

“I was afraid my diploma would be jeopardized if I spoke up,” Skye said in another tweet.

“I was once kicked out of a lab because I didn’t have a laptop and given a zero on the assignment. I was told I was unprepared,” one person replied. “I’ll never forget the hot tears of embarrassment in that hallway! As if I wanted to not have a laptop…”

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