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Ethnic studies class now has a substitute teacher, student says
California State University at San Marcos confirmed that a lecturer is “no longer in the classroom” after a viral video showed her using profanity as she angrily kicked out a student for allegedly asking a question about problems with alcoholism in Native American tribes.
However, the ethnic studies lecturer told The College Fix that the video was “heavily edited.”
University spokesperson Jerry McCormick declined to comment beyond a prepared statement when asked about the video late last week.
“The lecturer is no longer in the classroom,” according to the statement provided to The Fix via email.
“Cal State San Marcos is aware of the situation involving a lecturer and a student in a classroom,” the university stated. “We continue to review the circumstances and context surrounding the incident.”
“CSUSM works to maintain respectful learning environments that support inquiry and meaningful discussion. CSUSM is committed to providing a safe and welcoming space where all members of our community can learn, grow, and thrive.”
Neither the university nor the video named the instructor, but comments on TikTok identified her as Persephone Lewis, an ethnic studies lecturer. CSUSM students must take an ethnic studies course as part of their graduation requirements.
An old PhD student profile on UC San Diego’s website also appears to match Lewis’s description and the image of the lecturer in the video. According to the bio, Lewis is a citizen of the Yomba Shoshone Tribe in Nevada and she is committed to “Indigenous activism, tribal sovereignty, and Nation-building.”
Lewis responded to The Fix when asked if she is the professor in the video, writing: “The video was heavily edited. I have won teaching awards and been delivering intelectual contant [sic] to students since 2011. Thank you for contacting me.”
Lewis did not respond to follow up emails asking for more details about the incident and the university’s response.
Earlier this month, a student named Brooke Smith posted a video that consisted of a series of clips of the incident on TikTok, alleging that she watched the lecturer kick out a male student after he asked about tribal problems with alcoholism. Smith did not mention the lecturer’s name but described her as Native American.
The video begins with the scholar telling the student “no you’re not, no you’re not” when he appears to say “I’m sorry.”
“So get up and get the f— out of my class right now,” she continues. Another clip shows the lecturer saying: “You did this sh– on purpose, you are out of my class. I am dropping you.”
The video jumps to a discussion between the instructor and what appears to be a small group of students.
“We are actually not more likely to be alcoholics,” the lecturer says with emotion. “We have steadily fought for our land. I just feel so hurt.”
Off camera, a woman responds that dropping the student from the class was “not fair” because he asked “a genuine question.”
Cal State San Marcos responded last week to Smith’s video on TikTok last week after it amassed tens of thousands of views and thousands of comments with a post on her video: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are looking into this. CSUSM is focused on maintaining respectful learning environments that support inquiry and meaningful discussion, including difficult and sensitive subjects.”
As of Monday afternoon, the video had more than 1 million views.
In a second video late last week, Smith described the class in more detail.
On the day of the alleged incident, Smith said the class was discussing race and ethnicity. One topic that came up was crime rates among African Americans and drug use, she said.
Smith described the class as a “race and culture course.” However, the description does not exactly match the names of the two courses Lewis is teaching this fall, “Introduction to Ethnic Studies” and “Race and the University,” according to the university course catalogue.
The question the student asked that got him kicked out was: “I heard that Native Americans have a higher rate in alcoholism. Is this true?” according to Smith.
Smith suggested the lecturer became irate because she is Native American. Smith also said she did not think the student’s question was inappropriate, given the nature of the class discussion that day.
According to Smith’s allegations, the lecturer did not give the students any assignments or quizzes so far this semester, and most of the classes involved discussions about controversial topics.
She said the class now has a substitute teacher.
Smith did not respond to an email or a message via TikTok asking for more details about the incident, including the name of the class and the lecturer.
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