Former USM Student Decides to 'Pass' On Sleazy Syllabus
by Jim Brown
September 20, 2004
(AgapePress) - A Christian student has dropped out of the University of Southern Mississippi after being exposed to sexually explicit and profane content in the school's literature curriculum.Junior Sarah Bannerman of Pass Christian, Mississippi, wants to be a high school or college English teacher one day; however, she will not be getting her degree at Southern Miss. The former USM student became concerned after finding out one of her literature textbooks instructed future English teachers to let students read whatever they would like, even though their choices would likely contain sex, drugs, and profanity.
Bannerman, who just transferred to USM this semester, says the proverbial last straw came after only a few days on campus, when she was required to read a sex-filled, profanity-laced book called Snow Falling On Cedars in her analysis of literature course. "It was just so offensive to me that I couldn't read it anymore, so I just took the book and tossed it," she says, "It was at that moment that I thought, I can't do this -- I can't read this book."
The aspiring teacher says she was not only offended by the immoral content in the literature courses at the college, but also by the foul language her French instructor used in class. And Bannerman says her instructors did not seem willing to address her discomfort or accommodate her objections to the material.
According to Bannerman, her "Analysis of Literature" instructor exhibited no flexibility about the assignment to read the offensive novel. "It wasn't one of those books that I could just skip over or ask to read something else, because she just insisted that we all read this certain book," she says.
So the young Christian woman chose to withdraw from the school. But despite the circumstances of her withdrawal, the university would not refund her tuition, due to the fact that the five-day period to withdraw from courses had already expired.
For next semester, Bannerman plans to attend Belhaven College, a Christian liberal arts university in Jackson, Mississippi. Her mother, Brenda, says she is offended that the University of Southern Mississippi would use her tax dollars and tuition to fund what she calls "mental rot" in the classroom.
