Brookdale professor to student Trump supporter: 'F--- your life'

MIDDLETOWN - Brookdale Community College is investigating a sociology professor after one of his students said the teacher was targeting him for being conservative.

UPDATE: 'F--- your life' professor was 'uncivil' Brookdale says, apologizes to Trump student

The situation came to a head last week during a discussion about sexual harassment, Brookdale student Christopher Lyle said.

During the exchange, professor Howard Finkelstein slammed his hand on a desk and told Lyle, “f--- your life,” which was caught on video by another student and can be seen at the top of this page.

Brookdale spokeswoman Avis McMillon said she could not comment because of the ongoing investigation. Finkelstein was not immediately available for comment.

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But Lyle said the harassment has been happening all semester in Sociology 105, Intercultural Communication: The Person and the Process.

He said he believes he's being targeted because he's a conservative who supports President Donald Trump. He said he also believes that the negative attention has impacted his grade in the class.

“I respect people no matter who you are and I expect the same for me,” Lyle said.

“Instead of practicing against being biased, he’s being biased himself.”

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Lyle said he tried to address the issues privately with Finkelstein, then took his concerns to Finkelstein's superiors. He said he did not get satisfactory responses from the college before the incident happened last week.

McMillon said the college's first official complaint came after 9 p.m. on April 11, after the class. The dean overseeing the sociology department forwarded that email to the sociology department chairwoman the next morning, who contacted Lyle Monday.

Joey Smith, the student who filmed the incident, described Finkelstein's behavior in a similar way as Lyle.

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Smith said it seemed as though Finkelstein would ask controversial questions specifically to trigger reactions from Lyle, then forced him to answer.

Smith said Finkelstein spends most classes focusing his questions on Lyle — even when Lyle was not in the classroom.

“Chris is a part of his lesson plan,” Smith said. “He’ll ask Chris a question, then try to convince Chris in front of the class what is right and wrong.”

Smith said Finkelstein’s attention on Lyle was part of the reason he started recording the class last week.

Smith said he doesn’t always agree with Lyle’s positions, but said Finkelstein’s attention on him adversely impacts other students.

“I’m paying to get an education and I’m watching him preach to another student. I’m not learning anything there," he said.

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Monmouth County freeholders Tom Arnone and Lillian Burry issued a joint statement in response to the situation:

“We stand in full support of the Brookdale Community College administration and know that they will handle this matter in a professional manner to ensure that no student at Brookdale will be subjected to a hostile environment on their campus," the freeholders' statement said.

"It is the job of Brookdale’s faculty and staff to nurture the educational and personal growth of each and every student and we are confident that appropriate measures will be taken if any actions are found to be in conflict of this goal.”

Austin Bogues: abogues@gannettnj.com; 732-643-4009

Susanne Cervenka: @scervenka; scervenka@gannettnj.com; 732-643-4229