Denisha Maddie is a graduate teaching assistant at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology who seemingly bragged on Twitter about grading papers based on students’ race. In response, the school is investigating the situation and has taken action.
The situation started earlier in April when Maddie tweeted out the controversial statement from a personal account.
“Grading papers for my mentors and I’m giving these white students a runnnnn (sic) for their grade honey!” Denisha Maddie tweeted while using two devil face emojis and one laughing/crying emoji. “The exam is on race.”
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology released a public statement on their official website which announced that they were aware of the situation. The school said that Maddie was “affiliated” with them and noted that Maddie’s personal tweet “runs counter to our internal policies related to grading, as well as our core values.”
“The Chicago School does not agree with, or condone, such sentiments or behavior. Several actions have been taken in response,” wrote the Chicago School of Professional Psychology . “To date, the post has been removed, and we have started our internal processes to address the situation.”
The school says that university policy related to grading is “very clear” and that “only faculty members are responsible for reviewing and submitting final grades for all student assignments.” Based on their internal review, the school believes that this policy was “correctly followed in the incident referenced in the tweet.”
“The Chicago School has a 40-year history of respecting individual differences, and advancing the principles of inclusion and equality,” said Dr. Michele Nealon, president of Chicago School of Professional Psychology. “We have always been committed to addressing every such issue, as it provides an opportunity for sincere dialogue, and the further advancement of difficult yet crucial social justice topics. We are consistent in inviting and embracing difficult conversations that allow us advance our mission on topics related to multicultural diversity and inclusion.”
Based on screenshots from Twitter, Denisha Maddie set her Twitter account to private at first but has since deleted the account entirely. Similarly, Maddie’s LinkedIn account was also deleted.
