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Irwin Bernstein: UGA professor quits during class after student refuses to wear mask

The student was given a disposable mask but refused to put it on properly as she 'couldn't breathe'

A University of Georgia (UGA) professor resigned during a class on Tuesday, August 24, after a student in his classroom refused to wear her mask properly. Eight eight-year-old Irwin Bernstein, a UGA retiree-rehire psychology professor, was teaching his second class of the semester. During the class lesson, an unnamed female student walked in without a mask.

According to reports from university's student newspaper The Red & Black, the student was given a disposable mask but refused to put it on properly, stating that she "couldn't breathe" and "had a really hard time breathing."

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Bernstein had a "No mask, No class" sign on his board which all students saw when they arrived in his classroom. The report says that during the tense interaction with the student, Bernstein told her that due to underlying health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and his advanced age, that he could die from COVID-19.

But even then when the student refused to comply, Bernstein decided to retire from the UGA in the middle of the class. Previously, two of his absent students had tested positive for COVID-19. 

Who is Irwin Bernstein?

Bernstein, a UGA retiree-rehire psychology professor, suffers from underlying health conditions that make him more susceptible to dying from Covid. "At that point, I said that whereas I had risked my life to defend my country while in the Air Force, I was not willing to risk my life to teach a class with an unmasked student during this pandemic," Bernstein said in an email to the publication. "I then resigned my retiree-rehire position."

"Resignation was an all or none decision," he continued. "I felt some relief as I had been getting more concerned as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in recent weeks."

The publication writes that in 1968, Bernstein started teaching part-time at UGA and became a full-time faculty member in 1971 while he continued research at Emory University’s Yerkes Primate Center until 1993. Even though Bernstein retired from UGA in 2011, he continued to teach as a part-time retiree-rehire for many years and was asked by his former psychology department to return this year to teach two courses during the 2021-2022 semester. Bernstein has resigned from both classes.

Bernstein was apparently told by the head of the psychology department that he could not enforce a mask mandate [or vaccines] upon his students, but, according to the policies of the University System of Georgia, can encourage them to wear masks.

"I am sorry that the pandemic has caused so much dissension," Bernstein continued in the email. "I personally do not agree that stimulating the economy is more important than people's lives and am disappointed that some people feel that it is."

On Twitter, one of the students in the class wrote, "My professor just walked out because some girl refuses to wear a mask," adding, "And she’s talking about some “blessing in disguise” crap like ma’am I’m just trying to graduate."

Many social media users applauded the professor for taking the step. "Good for your professor - and y’all should have rallied for him, so she left instead. An 88 yr. old professor deserves respect. If she couldn’t breathe with it on all the way, she needed a medical note."

Along similar lines, another wrote, "Good for him. That’s called loving yourself. The girl just caused a lot of issues for a lot of other people. That is nothing but pure selfishness. Enroll in online school if you can’t wear the mask. You have options that don’t require you to endanger others."

Another user wrote that the student in question needs to be better, writing, "The student should be disciplined .why would any teacher put their life in risk because of someone ‘s ignorance."