My name is Tiffany Martínez. As a McNair Fellow and student scholar, I’ve presented at national conferences in San Francisco, San Diego, and Miami. I have crafted a critical reflection piece that was published in a peer-reviewed journal managed by the Pell Institute for the Study of Higher Education and Council for Opportunity in Education. I have consistently juggled at least two jobs and maintained the status of a full-time student and Dean’s list recipient since my first year at Suffolk University. I have used this past summer to supervise a teen girls empower program and craft a thirty page intensive research project funded by the federal government. As a first generation college student, first generation U.S. citizen, and aspiring professor I have confronted a number of obstacles in order to earn every accomplishment and award I have accumulated. In the face of struggle, I have persevered and continuously produced content that is of high caliber.
I name these accomplishments because I understand the vitality of credentials in a society where people like me are not set up to succeed. My last name and appearance immediately instills a set of biases before I have the chance to open my mouth. These stereotypes and generalizations forced on marginalized communities are at times debilitating and painful. As a minority in my classrooms, I continuously hear my peers and professors use language that both covertly and overtly oppresses the communities I belong to. Therefore, I do not always feel safe when I attempt to advocate for my people in these spaces. In the journey to become a successful student, I swallow the “momentary” pain from these interactions and set my emotions aside so I can function productively as a student.
Today is different. At eight o’clock this morning, I felt both disrespected and invalidated. For years I have spent ample time dissecting the internalized racism that causes me to doubt myself, my abilities, and my aspirations. As a student in an institution extremely populated with high-income white counterparts, I have felt the bitter taste of not belonging. It took until I used my cloud of doubt and my sociological training to realize that my insecurities are rooted in the systems I navigate every day. I am just as capable if not more so than those around me and my accomplishments are earned.
This morning, my professor handed me back a paper (a literature review) in front of my entire class and exclaimed “this is not your language.” On the top of the page they wrote in blue ink: “Please go back and indicate where you cut and paste.” The period was included. They assumed that the work I turned in was not my own. My professor did not ask me if it was my language, instead they immediately blamed me in front of peers. On the second page the professor circled the word “hence” and wrote in between the typed lines “This is not your word.” The word “not” was underlined. Twice. My professor assumed someone like me would never use language like that. As I stood in the front of the class while a professor challenged my intelligence I could just imagine them reading my paper in their home thinking could someone like her write something like this?
In this interaction, my undergraduate career was both challenged and critiqued. It is worth repeating how my professor assumed I could not use the word “hence,” a simple transitory word that connected two relating statements. The professor assumed I could not produce quality research. The professor read a few pages that reflected my comprehension of complex sociological theories and terms and invalidated it all. Their blue pen was the catalyst that opened an ocean of self-doubt that I worked so hard to destroy. In front of my peers, I was criticized by a person who had the academic position I aimed to acquire. I am hurting because my professor assumed that the only way I could produce content as good as this was to “cut and paste.” I am hurting because for a brief moment I believed them.
Instead of working on my English paper that is due tomorrow, I felt it crucial to reflect on the pain that I am sick of swallowing. My work is a reflection of my growth in a society that sees me as the other. For too long I have others assume I am weak, unintelligent, and incapable of my own success. Another element of this invalidation is that as I sit here with teary eyes describing the distress I am too familiar with, the professor has probably forgotten all about it. My heartache can not be universally understood and until it is, I have to continue to fight. At this moment, there are students who will never understand the desolation that follows an underlined “not.” There are students who will be assumed capable without the need to list their credentials in the beginning of a reflective piece. How many degrees do I need for someone to believe I am an academic?
At this moment, I am in the process of advocating for myself to prove the merit of my content to people who will never understand what it is like to be someone like me. Some of you won’t understand how every word that I use to describe this moment was diligently selected in a way that would properly reflect my intellect. I understand that no matter how hard I try or how well I write, these biases will continue to exist around me. I understand that my need to fight against these social norms is necessary.
In reality, I am tired and I am exhausted. On one hand, this experience solidifies my desire to keep going and earn a PhD but on the other it is a confirmation of how I always knew others saw me. I am so emotional about this paper because in the phrase “this is not your word,” I look down at a blue inked reflection of how I see myself when I am most suspicious of my own success. The grade on my paper was not a letter, but two words: “needs work.” And it’s true. I am going to graduate in May and enter a grad program that will probably not have many people who look like me. The entire field of academia is broken and erases the narratives of people like me. We all have work to do to fix the lack of diversity and understanding among marginalized communities. We all have work to do.
Academia needs work.
TIFFANY MARTÍNEZ 
Considering you think that ‘hence’ is a *transitory word* (which is a category made up by you for this post…), maybe indeed it is *not* your word. Hence …
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Further evidence of more study of the English language: ‘professor’ is a singular noun. You referred to him/her as ‘they’ repeatedly. If that is for reasons of the new gender nonsense, then my sympathies are further eroded. My wife’s maiden name is Hernandez. I personally am acquainted with no one with more obstacles to overcome than she. She did so with grace and without whining or blaming the larger society. Get over your plight and move on.
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Spoken like a true white person who doesn’t have to deal with racism. Way to uphold the status quo
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Yo, “Deplorable” dude, I meant to point this out earlier to another commenter in a respectful manner, but since you’re all in our face about it: “they” has been occasionally used as a generic pronoun in literature even in a sort of first-person-singular position since well before I was born, and I’m in my 50s. Get over your illiteracy and get some manners.
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Typical white privilege. You feel perfectly entitled to wag your finger in this woman’s face and tell her your uninformed opinion has more value than her account of her experience.
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She probably meant ‘transitional word’—though ‘transitory’ is a related term of ‘transitional’. Regardless of whether the use of the word was incorrect or not, the professor was absolutely dead wrong on his/her method of dealign with this. At the very least, I would have called him/her out and asked them to explain in detail why they thought it was not her word and back up their response with facts, not innuendos. Teaching is a two-way relationship.
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What a worthless and pedantic reply. Maybe we can use your Faulty Sign fallacy as an example for how not to think critically.
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Do you have anything better to do than vomit nonsense on a bright young woman speaking her truth?
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You are unlikely to get satisfaction from your professor. Hence, you should take your complaint to the dean.
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I’m just going to say, you handled that situation way better than I would have. Can you/have you talked to the dean at all? That’s unacceptable and that prof owes you an apology in front of the whole class. I would have destroyed him in class. Stay strong.
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Go to an academic dean. If this professor is accusing you of plagiarism, then THEY should have to prove it.
I am so very sorry this happened to you. It only takes moments to leave scars than can last for years. Please let this incident define the professor, not you.
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‘This is not your word.’ The word ‘hence’? I am not a native speaker, but I do use this peculiar word in my writing, quite frequently actually. I have netver thought of it as particularly fancy or whatever. So this is very strange. But on a more general note, how can a person own a word in the first place? Who would be entitled to such ownership, and why? Jumping from one ‘hence’ to the conclusion that a paper may be the result of ‘cut-and-paste’ seems to be either lazy, racist, or stupid, but probably all of it.
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Request a meeting with the department chair. We go to college to expand our learning. Your instructor (whom I hope is not a tenure-track professor) needs a reality check on what words from the English language one can use regardless of one’s national origin. Instead of being discouraged, I encourage you to accept this experience as one of validation: You’ve got the goods, kiddo. USE YOUR WORDS!
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Dear Ms. Martinez: As a sociology (part-time) instructor I’m appalled by this professor’s biases and behavior, noting the deep irony that the person is teaching sociology. I apologize for my colleague (and wish they were not my colleague.) Academia indeed needs work — and you are precisely a person to do that work! Please do not let such actions stand in your way. A brief story: My wife, an LCSW social worker, experienced a horrific episode of bullying that led her to resigning. She put together a new career, continuing to do therapy, consulting, working with county human services agencies. But that bullying stayed with her. She decided to pursue a PhD, and wrote her dissertation about workplace bullying. (By the way, academia is one of the worst professions for bullying.) The National Association of Social Workers published her book. She is consulting, presenting at conferences, and will be testifying at a State legislature next month. The old story “shake it off, mule” comes to mind. Your experience is clearly actionable. It might also be the taproot of a thesis. You write beautifully, but you don’t need anyone to tell you that! I wish you the very best. Kind Regards
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To blazes with her. Never apologize for being literate. Yes, sometimes profs are just jerks, but as you found out, academia doesn’t stop arrogance, willfulness, and bigotry. Keep going! You’ll show the so-and-sos.
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The prof also needs to apologize at least as publicly as his accusation.
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Yes.
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Tiffany- I teach written composition at SF State and am personally offended by your professor’s racist assumptions, not to mention calling you out in front of the class – unimaginable! Moreover, your eloquence and accolades make it impossible for me to believe your professor had any sense of “your language” when making accusations (plus, even when students are guilty of plagiarism, accusations are no way to handle it!). Please know there are many of us out there on your side! And Suffolk is flooding with our written complaints. This is a big issue worth ringing some bells. I’m so proud of you for speaking out!
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Your education is an investment in yourself that no one can take away from you. Keep grinding, good things are coming your way
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Ms Martinez, while I have never experienced what you have, being a white woman, I am reading this and horrified! What happened to “don’t judge a book by it’s cover?” I thank you for bringing this painful subject to light. Please remember, most people believe that a person’s character defines them, not their race.
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Thank you for your story! I admire your courage and fortitude. Please continue to speak out!
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I am very sorry and angry that you and many more people are going through this. I have done my academic work in Africa and to some extent, what you have described is simply unimaginable! I imagine you turning the tables and launching into a highly academic verbal monologue in front of the whole class and ending it with, ‘…and you have the AUDACITY to think that I do not know a simple word like ‘hence’? Exactly which planet are you from?’ That should make the point. I am so ANGRY!
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Mi hermana, this was abuse, AFAIC. I would take the professor to task because we need to stop being silent in the face of racism. On another note, I love your “voice.” Keep writing!
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I’m not sure why we have to suffer to grow. This is a test. Stand up for yourself. Abide in your self-confidence. It’s even possible that you touched the prof’s self-doubt by writing something so good and that arrogance was his defense. You are a human. He is a human. You are on an equal playing field. We need you to believe in yourself.
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Oh hell nah! I will code switch here for a moment. I’ve been thru this in both academia and professionally. It is disorienting, painful and unsettling. It makes you angry and creates self doubt where there shouldn’t be. …and yet its hard to let it go. You are walking a path, this is one of those obstacles. You also cannot allow this to slide…but be cautious. You know your goals and your abilities…only you can determine what is your limit. At the same time be wise, calculative, because there is a larger game here…your success. Stay strong. …and that next paper that you are writing, and every other one after will be stronger than anything else before this incident. It is simple: you are right and that professor is blatantly wrong (…and out of line). Kid…you will go places.
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❤️️
I didn’t know what else to respond with other than a heartfelt hug and feeling of understanding and solidarity. The feelings you so eloquently wrote of are ever present in my world as well. You deserve your success and so shall you have it!
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Aside from being wildly insensitive, that was so unprofessional of the “professor” to have “called you out” in front of the class. If they truly cared about teaching and developing the best versions of their students, and believed you had plagiarized, they should have 1) sought evidence and 2) had a meeting with you. I don’t know of any university that doesn’t license plagiarism software.
I say this as someone also in academia. All I can give you is my empathy. At the very least you have created something beautiful (this essay) and eloquent from this experience. Elevate yourself above that nonsense. You have every reason to be tired- but realize the best version of you is probably the one pursuing her goal and not getting sidetracked with this peasantry.
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I am sorry you experienced this. I wish I could reassure you it will not happen, again. Unfortunately, it will and it will happen in the work place.
The professor’s behavior was unprofessional. In addition, this may be a violation of FERPA. Student grades and feedback must remain private. I ask students for permission to share their work as an example of good writing, not to belittle or humiliate them in front of their peers.
When I suspect plagiarism, I meet with the student in my office with another profesor and discuss the issue.
If your professor is concerned about copy/paste why aren’t the papers being submitted electronically and evaluated by software like SafeAssign? Frankly, I have several questions for your professor.
Ms. Martinez I have experienced this as a student and a professional. You will feel alone. You will rarely have a professor or mentor who can relate to the challenges you face on a daily basis, but keep moving forward.
Document well and use objective language when filing complaints. Read, the policy on how students can grieve a grade. The policy should be in the catalog. Then, follow it to the letter. Lastly, review your rights under FERPA. You should also have an Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity on campus. They can and should help you.
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please let us know your professor’s email address so we can politely check them on his/her BS
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I mean. If you didn’t plagiarize, tell the professor to go screw himself. Innocent until proven guilt. If they think you plagiarized, make them prove their thinking so you can shed light on their possibly ignorant thinking. However, i don’t think its conducive to be so offended by someone else’s opinion of you….
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Right, don’t be bothered that your boss (in the classroom the prof is the boss) thinks you’re to stupid to string two sentences together. That’s great advice. Except it’s awful and totally ignores the very real damage false accusations of plagiarism can do to someone’s academic record. Let alone their career.
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I was constantly being accused of plagiarism in school, 5th grade onward. The invention of internet-based check sites was the saving of my sanity in high school. I got numerous detentions for “disrespect” for demanding that an accusing teacher run a paper or writing assignment through such a check site, especially if I dared ask for an apology when they were proven to be wrong. But it all stopped cold when I hit college. Every time I turned in a paper, I cringed, waiting for that inevitable “So who really wrote this?” And it never happened, not to me. I had assumed with relief that I was finally dealing exclusively with educators who were capable of using the internet to confirm the originality of a paper. Now I’m wondering if I was simply presumed to be competent because of my skin color. And that’s awful. I’m so sorry you had to deal with this. PLEASE go over that professor’s head to the department chair, and further up the chain if you have to. It’s absolutely despicable to treat a star student in such a dismissive and degrading manner.
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Enroll at an HBCU. This would never happen at Howard.
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Don’t be sick, don’t be hurt, don’t be tired. Be steel, and fight the stupid.
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Wow.
Your style of writing is better than what you get to read in the New Yorker. But I do get how racism will influence people’s prception of you. I am an Arab Palestinian male.
Just keep writing, and fuck their racism
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I’d like to see someone from academia try that racist crap with me. “Hence” I’d make them eat their chalk and to “mitigate” the “aforementioned” act, I would “promptly” shove the eraser up their ass.
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Love it Alvin
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Please take this to the head of the English Department and demand something be done to make sure this professor either never does this again, or else is dismissed outright. Everyone knows software exists to detect plagiarism; he clearly did not use it. He should apologize, sign an agreement to never let something like this happen again, hope others do not share similar stories, and be made to walk on eggshells for the rest of his career. Failing this, he should be summarily dismissed and publicly defamed. In fact, please tell us this professor’s name. Please, please let the internet burst his tiny bubble, and ruin him complete.
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The professor should also be required to apologize to her in front of the same people who witnessed her debasement.
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It’s scary how quickly someone’s life can be ruined by an internet mob incensed over 8 paragraphs. You’re itching to be judge, jury, and executioner for someone you’ve never met.
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Doxing isn’t ok. Ever.
Also it’s quite possible this prof has tenure and wouldn’t be dismissed over this.
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Beautiful writing Ms. Martinez! Despite your grief, hurt and pain and the sheer frustration, I loved reading this article. The language and structure is excellent and you speak from your heart with much passion! Keep believing in yourself and your ability and continue to shine brightly as you do … your work (if anything like this great article here) is fantastic and others probably feel threatened by you and jealous. You outshine them and they don’t like that, especially because you are breaking the mold and challenging their perspectives and stereotypical views. Well done girl! PS. Your name rocks so own it and be proud of it because it is who you are. Ms. awesome Tiffany Martinez.
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Tiffany, I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart that this happened to you, and that so many of the other mistreatements and disrespect piled up to make this a breaking point. My suggestion: print this out, don’t change a damn thing on your other paper and hand them both to the professor. CC the head of the department and the Dean of Students with both. The prof needs to be called out and embarrassed the way they did to you.
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Thank you for your courage and vulnerability. Your story is important, vital, to others going through similar experiences. I recently read the following:
“Remember: Oppression thrives off isolation. Connection is the only thing that can save you.
Remember: Oppression thrives on superficiality. Honesty about your struggles in the key to your liberation.
Remember: Your story can help save someone’s life. Your silence contributes to someone else’s struggle. Speak so we all can be free. Love so we all can be liberated. The moment is now. We need you.”
Thank you Ms. Martinez for speaking your truth loud enough to rumble our own truths into the open.
Love and blessings.
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Option 1: this professor knows how to prove a plagiarism charge and didn’t bother to find the proof in this case.
Option 2: this professor doesn’t know how to prove a plagiarism charge.
Both failings are professional catastrophes. Alarm bells should be clanging and sprinklers activating all over campus.
This was microaggression AND incompetence at a level no respectable institution can tolerate.
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As a professor, it’s my job to find the plagiarized material before accusing students of plagiarism. Your professor is being lazy and unprofessional. Any student who picks up writing styles from the things they’ve written would use “hence”. Calling you out in front of your classmates is also lazy and unprofessional. A simple “see me” would have sufficed.
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You say you’re tired and exhausted. Deal with that shit for forty years and see how tired and exhausted you become.
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How very supportive.
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Way to devalue her experience. Good job. -_-
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Report it. I have been through similar situation. One day a professor shames me because of my ESL spelling. The next day he accuses me of plagiarism because the organization of my paper, color coding could haven’t been completed by me.
In college a professor in English telling me that because I am ESL I could never get higher than a B. I worked so hard, had peers edit and review my papers, did two or three revisions. Turned in an impeccable book…she gave me a B. When I asked for my portfolio back, she made it nearly impossible for me to get it back. I had six months to report it. I had the proof, my portfolio, my work, my hours. I didn’t. I regret it. Not because it would have changed the grade, necessarily. Not because I am great writer. But because for some odd reason I didn’t want to be that problematic kid, I wanted my professors to respect me, I wanted to earn what I had. But if you don’t report it, he/she will keep on doing this. There are plagiarism software. He has no excuse. If he failed to do his due diligence and instead choose you blame you, don’t carry that pain. The professor is at fault, he/she needs to prove it. Not you. Report it, for you for those that come after you. Remember Universities have ethics panels for a reason, and they should not only be about student’s behavior. That professor is erasing morale and stealing the university from its most precious resource…the will and drive of its students.
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Ms. Martinez,
Do not despair, there are plenty of individuals out there just like this so called professor you mentioned.
I would highly go with Rob’s suggestion just as a matter of principle. However, more importantly do not let this incident distract you from your current goals. One way to change the system is to continue and achieve what you have set out to do, if you get distracted then you loose not them.
Best regards,
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Tiffany, you are an articulate and dedicated scholar. What your professor did was unconscionable! You WILL graduate and with honors. Fight the system! Be a role model for other young women who are not of the majority culture. Write. Speak. And speak up whenever you can. You should bring this incident to your advisor and to higher authorities within your university.
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I feel your pain and know that my experiences can compare but are not the same, as is the nature of different biases. I caution against the possibility that those who experience the offense of bias are similarly participating in generalizations which create and further amplify divisiveness. Our society demands change, growth, education. There are too many who make this about retribution and punishment, rather than equalization. The former appears easier, but it is not repairative nor healthy. I will never stop looking over my shoulder for the bias I have encounteted, even from within my ‘group’. But i try to keep check on my own overgeneralizations.
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Girl, I could have written this. Ten years ago as an undergraduate McNair scholar and first generation college student I was accused of plagiarizing a literature review in a research methods class because it was “too good.” My professor told me she was more apt to believe my McNair faculty mentor wrote it for me and gave me a failing grade. After getting my McNair program and faculty mentor to talk to the professor, she finally believed I wrote it. Ten years later, after having completed my Ph.D., I wish I could tell you it gets better and easier. It doesn’t, but YOU will get exponentially stronger the more you work towards that dream of the Ph.D. And YOU will be the change you want to see in the academy for so many young people. After that incident I devoted all of my studies towards critically analyzing and changing this broken “meritocracy ” of higher education. Please reach out and connect if ever you want/need. McNair is family. (rbeals@unm.edu)
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While this is a horrifying, outrageous incident that demands followup, I think it’s premature to conclude that “academia” as a whole is rotten. I have a fully Spanish name despite English being my native language, and never had to justify my mastery of English.
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I have a Latina Ph.D as a friend who is also a professor. It happens more than you think. Just because of your personal experiences don’t equate her words, doesn’t mean it not a problem. Maybe because your a man as well since my friend is a female, but her Latino husband confirms the mistreatment soooooo…
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Fight on! Persevere! You are *owed* and *entitled* to so much more.
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This happened to me while in college. At the time, I was a non-traditional student going to school at night but working as a writer/editor to pay my way through school. The professor accused five students of cheating — all female. I went straight to the Assistant Dean. Take this seriously as YOU pay the school to learn, grow, and to be intellectually stimulated. Not for accusations based on gender or race. My school took this very seriously and I hope yours does as well because it matters.
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Tiffany, are you at this Suffolk University?
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/06/what-ahead-for-suffolk-university-after-months-turmoil/iCJWQtkjBYFWjyFsnMZ2XP/story.html
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Your essay was posted on Facebook by a friend of mine and it is very powerful. Ms. Martinez, you should be extremely proud of your accomplishments and it is a shame that you were marginalized in this manner. You write beautifully! Good luck in the future.
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Ms. Martinez, thank you for this piece. Your pain may provide a valuable teaching moment for this, and other, faculty members, and for the student body. Apparently, in addition to the implicit bias that seems to have driven this behavior, you’ve been accused of plagiarism, which is a very serious matter. And the accusation has, apparently, been made in a public forum among your academic peers – also a very serious matter. It might prove useful to contact the Dean of Faculty and the President of your institution to initiate a complaint process. Your institution may offer other avenues to pursue redress. You may also want to consult an attorney to see whether this faculty member has committed slander or libel. Best wishes, and my sympathies.
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I’m sorry. It’s not just you. It happens to us all. Stay strong. Know your own worth. At a certain point in your career, things shift. Recognition comes from many quarters– not just from one professor standing at the front of a room. And other people *see* you now. This post is beautiful and people see your language. You don’t need to prove and fight to show your professor anything (outside worrying about your final grade). It has been freeing for me to know that I work and write for an audience that cares and sees me. I don’t care anymore when people treat me like I’m a student or assume I don’t know anything. Feel free to contact me if you need advice.
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