A Victoria University of Wellington<\/a> lecturer has retracted an emotionally charged email in which he claimed students had \u201clied\u201d and \u201ccheated\u201d after many failed to watch his queer criminology lecture online.<\/p>\n Lecturer Ti Lamusse<\/a> told his Criminology 316 students they had shown \u201cprofound academic dishonesty and demonstrated disrespect for your teaching staff and the people whose lives you could have learned about if you had bothered to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n The line, \u201cI am ashamed of you as a cohort of students,\u201d was formatted in bold.<\/p>\n Lamusse said he was \u201cin tears\u201d after seeing fewer than a third of his students had watched the lecture on Monday, September 12, which took him \u201cthree weeks to prepare\u201d. Lamusse told his students that if he had acted in the same way, he would be deeply ashamed of himself, and his wh\u0101nau would be ashamed of him.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Christel Yardley\/Stuff<\/cite><\/p>\n Victoria University of Wellington criminology lecturer Ti Lamusse has retracted a fiery email sent to his students. (File photo)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cI also worry what it means to graduate with a degree in criminology, if you\u2019re able to lie and cheat your way into passing. The thought of many of you using your degree to find work at the NZ Police, Ministry of Justice or Department of Corrections fills me with dread.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t engage, in even a basic way, with your course content, I am deeply concerned for the social harm you may cause,\u201d the criminological theory lecturer said.<\/p>\n Christel Yardley\/Stuff<\/cite><\/p>\n Ti Lamusse has \u201cfully retracted\u201d and apologised for an emotionally charged email he sent to his Criminology 316 class at Victoria University of Wellington. (File photo)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n One of Lamusse\u2019s students, who wished to remain anonymous for fear their grades might suffer, claimed Lamusse was confronted about the appropriateness of the email and \u201cthen had an eight-minute argument with a student in our lecture\u201d that was recorded.<\/p>\n The student who complained to Stuff <\/em>said course lectures were uploaded on Monday nights, and a discussion on its content would take place the following morning. The student said this didn\u2019t leave much time to revise the content, particularly when students had work and other study commitments.<\/p>\n \u201cTi also uploads 70-plus PowerPoint slides for each lecture, and then in the lectures recites the PowerPoint slides word-for-word. Because of this, many students, including me, do not feel the need to watch the lectures, as they can get the same information from reading the PowerPoint slides,\u201d the complainant explained.<\/p>\n Monique Ford\/Stuff<\/cite><\/p>\n Victoria University of Wellington says the email was not in keeping with its values of respect, responsibility, fairness, integrity and empathy, and resolution processes are under way. (File photo)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n A request to interview Lamusse on September 15 was refused by the university. However, in a statement, the university<\/a> said it was \u201caware\u201d of the email.<\/p>\n \u201cThe university does not condone the approach taken by this lecturer, which is not in keeping with our institution\u2019s values of respect, responsibility, fairness, integrity, and empathy.<\/p>\n \u201cResolution processes are under way with this staff member and the students involved,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n The university would not be drawn on whether disciplinary action was a feature of the resolution process.<\/p>\n A day after the controversial email was sent, Lamusse sent another email to his students \u201cunreservedly\u201d apologising, saying its content was \u201cinappropriate, hurtful, frightening and should never have been sent\u201d.<\/p>\n Lamusse said he wanted to acknowledge the student who challenged him on the email.<\/p>\n \u201cYou showed bravery and sense, and I should have listened to you. I am sorry … I wrote the email from a place of pain. This is not an excuse. It is never a good idea to make big decisions like that email when we are hurting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing I wanted to do was hurt you, my students, and that\u2019s what I did,\u201d Lamusse said.<\/p>\n In 2016, Lamusse was one of four people arrested after they chained themselves to the Hamilton Department of Corrections office over the treatment of a transgender prisoner<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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