Photo: Courtesy Irwin Bernstein
A longtime professor chose his health over his career this month after a student reportedly refused to wear a mask correctly during one of his classes.
Irwin Bernstein resigned from his position as a retire-rehire professor at the University of Georgia on Aug. 24 after an unnamed student walked into his class without a face mask, according to the school’sindependent, student-run newspaper,Red & Black.
The protective coveringhas been shown to help slow the spread of COVID-19, which has infected millions across the world since early last year.
Despite his requests, the student refused to wear the face mask properly — deciding to keep it under her nose — leading Bernstein to announce his retirement in front of the class.
“The student had said to me that the mask was uncomfortable and took it off,” Bernstein, an Air Force veteran, tells PEOPLE in a statement. “I was not comfortable staying in the room with an unmasked student and told them that and that I was retiring again and left.”
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While the student claimed she had difficulty breathing with a face mask on, Bernstein — who has four asthmatic children — says he did not recognize “any sign of respiratory distress” in the student.
“If she had told me that, I would have tried to get help to address her problem,” he says.
Since the incident, Bernstein says he has been sent “profane” and “disturbing” e-mails from people who disagree with his actions, but the support he’s received has been invaluable.
After his sudden resignation, students in Bernstein’s class were moved to a new section of the course, Greg Trevor, Associate Vice President for Marketing & Communications, tells PEOPLE in a statement.
“The University of Georgia is doing everything within its power to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our community,” the statement says. “The university is a part of a university system and must follow the direction of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. The USG does not allow its institutions to enact mask or vaccine mandates.”
“However, vaccines and face coverings are strongly encouraged, and UGA is offering numerous incentives for motivation,” Trevor explains, adding that the university is providing free vaccines and masks to the campus, as well as free COVID-19 testing.
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Bernstein says he will now be spending most of his time at home, and has no plans to look for other work. He has no financial need to and had agreed to accept payment at less than a quarter of the rate he had been receiving prior to retirement, he explains.
“The whole incident is sad. Unfortunately, a public health issue had become a political issue,” he says.
“Covid can be no more than a minor illness for young healthy people,” he adds, “but old people with comorbidities, like me, are really in peril if infected.”
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source: people.com
