RA Prof Slays 3 When Tenure Denied

[Winston Smith]

Motive in Question as Professor Faces Murder Charge in Alabama Campus Shooting

...Students' assessments of Bishop varied. Some recalled an attentive, friendly teacher, while others said she was an odd woman who couldn't simplify difficult subjects for students. Sammie Lee Davis, the husband of a tenured researcher who was killed, said his wife had described Bishop as "not being able to deal with reality" and "not as good as she thought she was."

Davis said his wife was a tenured researcher at the university. In a brief phone interview, Davis said he was told his wife was at a meeting to discuss the tenure status of another faculty member who got angry and started shooting.

University spokesman Ray Garner said that Bishop was up for tenure, but that the faculty meeting was not called to specifically discuss tenure.

Davis' wife, Maria Ragland Davis, was among those killed, along with Gopi K. Podila, chairman of the biological sciences department, and another faculty member, Adriel Johnson.

...Andrea Bennett, a sophomore majoring in nursing and an athlete at UAH, said a coach told her team that Bishop had been denied tenure, which the coach said may have led to the shooting.

Bennett described Bishop as being "very weird" and "a really big nerd."

"She's well-known on campus, but I wouldn't say she's a good teacher. I've heard a lot of complaints," Bennett said. "She's a genius, but she really just can't explain things."

Amanda Tucker, a junior nursing major from Alabaster, Alabama, had Bishop for anatomy class about a year ago. Tucker said a group of students complained to a dean about Bishop's classroom performance.

"When it came down to tests, and people asked her what was the best way to study, she'd just tell you, 'Read the book.' When the test came, there were just ridiculous questions. No one even knew what she was asking," Tucker said.

Gopi K. Podila--Adriel Johnson--Maria Ragland Davis

I'll leave it to you geneticists out there to determine the ethnic status of the shooter and the victims. But you have to wonder what would piss off somebody so badly that they would come out blasting.

Maybe something like being denied tenure for some reason other than your job performance? Like, I dunno, maybe not belonging to the correct ethnic group?