An Ohio State University student is feeling the wrath of the word police as her professor orders her not to use the term “illegal immigrant.” The phrase she must use — or else suffer the consequences — is “unauthorized immigrant.”

Will Hannah Emerson follow the rules?

“Yes, I have to,” she told The Mirror. “As much as I don’t want to, I don’t want to get a bad grade in the class.”

Emerson, 19, considers herself to be right-leaning in her political views. The order from her professor really startled her.

“So, I am taking an online ‘sociology of immigration’ class, and yesterday we had to create an introductory post talking about the immigration issues that face the [United States] today,” she told me.

“I mentioned illegal immigration and used the term ‘illegal immigrant.’ Today, I received a message from the professor telling me that I am not allowed to use the term ‘illegal immigrant’ and should instead use the term ‘unauthorized immigrant.’ If I were to continue to use the term illegal immigrant, he said my work would not be accepted.” (RELATED: Twitter Censorship Should Terrify Everyone)

This is her first encounter with this sort of thing.

“This is the first time for me that I have felt as though my free speech here on campus has been limited,” she said. “I don’t really know how to proceed as I don’t want to get a bad grade.” (RELATED: Freedom Of Speech At College Can Be Tricky)

Below is the cheery note that Professor Victor Espinosa sent her via an online system called Carmen.

The Mirror requested a comment from Espinosa. Among a general request for comment, I asked if Emerson would fail the class if she didn’t follow his orders.

An online bio states that the professor was educated in Mexico as well as the United States. In Mexico, he earned degrees at the Universidad de Guadalajara and El Colegio de Michoacan. He earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern University.

His “areas of expertise” include: human rights and suffering, Transnational Migration & Art, and Outsider Art & Artistic Recognition, to name a few.