A black student recently shared a video of her confrontation with a white professor at University of Dallas who, the student claims, harassed her for listening to a recorded lecture too loudly.
The student, who goes by It’s Cori (@coritoocutee) on TikTok, posted a short clip on October 11, which shows the aftermath of the incident. The 51-second video shows the student and the professor filming each other.
It’s Cori explained what was going on in a text overlay that read, “Pov: a professor harasses you for listening to a lecture because she doesn’t wanna close her door.”
@coritoocutee why did this lady call campus security before this video and had a tantrum bc they couldnt escort me out 🥴???? chilee and the sound was only on 25 until she got crazy so it went to a 100 idc!
♬ original sound – it’s cori
In a follow-up storytime video, the student says she was sitting near the professor’s office, listening to a lecture on her laptop, when the professor approached her to complain about the noise.
The student claims that she lowered the volume on her device, but that the professor came out again, asking her “if she had headphones, or if she could leave.”
“I was like, ‘No, I don’t have headphones, and I’m not gonna leave.’ And after that, it took a whole turn,” the TikToker says in her video, adding, “She was like putting her fingers in my face. She was like, ‘I despise students like you.’ And I was like, what? ‘Baby girl? Students like who? Students like who?’”
The drama didn’t stop there with the professor reportedly calling campus security, who allegedly sided with the student and said he couldn’t do anything about the situation.
“So yeah. So when he leaves and he doesn’t do anything about it, she’s still pissed off like p*ss.”
The reception to the initial video was mixed as some commenters said it was common courtesy to wear headphones.
“The professor overreacted, but its just common courtesy to have headphones on,” one commenter wrote.
“Why don’t you have headphones???” a second asked
“I’m on her side, I’m not trying to hear someone’s lecture while I”m working. Headphones and we can all be happy,” said a third.
However, public opinion quickly changed with the student added context of the follow-up TikTok.
“She was acting so out of line getting all the angles and everything … I’m so sorry you went through that,” one user commented.
“I am so glad you stood up for yourself, she was completely in the wrong,” said another.
“Email the department. don’t let her bully you fr,” advised someone else.
One TikToker, who goes by Jay Megan (@nerdypinkpanda) even went as far as to track the professor down and expose her details in a two-part series. Jay claims that the woman has a “CLEAR CUT racial bias,” that she has a history of controversial race-related actions, and that she is a member of Opus Dei.
“Her entire career in academia is based on coded eugenics, and her pursuit of higher education was solely because of the Opus Dei ideology, which morphed to engulf MAGA white nationalism,” says Jay.
When reached for comment, Jay elaborated on her reasons for posting about the incident. “When I first came across Cori’s video, I noticed a dog pile of comments berating her for not wearing headphones and focusing on the wrong aspect of the video,” she explains.
The creator goes on to highlight how people of color are often accused of seeing everything through a racial lens, and are also placed with the burden of proving incidents of racism. “Too many times the BIPOC community reaches out and tries to share their experiences with racial biases, only to be accused of ‘playing the race card,'” she says. “This is a tool used to try and silence a marginalized community and gaslight them in order to maintain their perception of our society. In some ways I sympathize with people still living in that bubble, but the only way to heal our country is by taking accountability for our shortcomings.”
Jay goes on to say, “Susan Hanssen is a prime example of how learning to recognize micro aggressions can open up the door for deeper discussions, and ultimately, change. The only reason we were able to expose this woman entrusted to educate young minds is because she lived a very public life. For every one Susan Hanssen, there are 10 continuing on in obscurity. We will never be able to change the minds of every person. That’s just a fact. But we have to continue giving people the door to open their minds. It’s ultimately their choice to walk through it.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to It’s Cori via TikTok direct message, and to Susan Hanssen and the University of Dallas via email.
This post has been updated with comment from Jay Megan.