Canadian Uni Vows Action After Instructor Threatens to Fail Myanmar Student During Coup

A Canadian university said it was taking “appropriate actions” against an instructor who cast doubt on a Myanmar student’s request for an extension because of a military coup, sweeping internet blackouts, and deadly protests in the Southeast Asian country.

The recent exchange between Emanoil Theodorescu, a mathematics and statistics instructor at York University in Toronto, came to light after screenshots of the emails went viral on Twitter.

The student, who was not identified, had asked for a midterm exam to be deferred, citing restrictions on the internet since the junta seized power on Feb. 1 and the generally unstable situation in the country, including that fact that “almost 200 protesters have been shot.” The death toll from the protests has now surged past 200 people, there are nightly internet shutdowns, and the regime restricted mobile data access during the day this week.

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Theodorescu appears to have agreed by adding more weight to the final exam, but warned the student, “the next time you miss something, it’s over.” He also questioned the student’s account of what was going on in the country, which has descended into chaos since the power grab.

“By the way, your remarks (both related to this course and to your home country) made me wonder how you understand reality. People don’t get shot for just protesting, but for a lot deeper reasons. And with loading everything on the final exam—it’s going to be tough to pass the course—for lack of practice, if nothing else.”

A screenshot of the exchange was shared nearly 8,000 times on Twitter and liked more than 20,000 times. It was also discussed in a thread on Reddit, where many users called for the instructor’s dismissal or criticized the comments for being insensitive. On March 18, York University responded and said the student’s request would be accommodated.

“While employment matters are confidential, we can confirm that appropriate actions were immediately initiated upon learning of the exchange,” the statement said, calling the matter “serious.”

“We would like to assure all concerned that senior staff from the Faculty were able to directly make contact with the student last night, and clearly expressed support for their difficult circumstance and well-being, and further, assured them that necessary accommodations would be granted.”

Theodorescu and a university spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Attempts to reach the student were unsuccessful. But a person who claimed to start the thread thanked everyone on Twitter for raising awareness about the issue.