I'm gonna tell the Sheik on you!

My attempts to cut and paste e-mails didn't work. So I'll summarize. (The summary will not do this post justice but every time I try post the e-mails the font becomes gigantic. Sorry, now the teaser will look overblown.)

A student sent an e-mail that she earned an A in my class but I gave her a C. Now she's going to get kicked out of the university for bad grades so she's going to take it to the Sheik in charge of education. She said she'd also take her case to the administration with the clear point that I should be fired.

I checked her final. She scored 35/100. Giving her a C was a gift, by points she deserved a D+. I e-mailed her the complete information and told her I did not appreciate the threat. I also CC:'d my boss.

Very shortly later my boss sent a strong rebuke telling the student to never threaten a professor this way and not to invoke the Sheik's name. (He didn't mention that she misspelled the Skeik's name.) The best line for me:

I personally have 100% confidence that Mr. Kranz is a fair instructor who has had an excellent performance this year.

I'm feeling all warm and tingly. That's not much of an exaggeration. I've been thinking today, "When's the last time I've had a good boss? One who's got my back?" The sad answer is never. I had a great chair at Hamilton - and she did her best to help - but she'd be the first to admit she had no power. She was smart enough to see the writing on the wall and got out.

Having a "I've got your back" boss is a wonderful feeling. Too bad I had to reach 40 before I realized how good it felt.