4C THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SEX on the HILL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2005
Some students fall hard for tasty teachers
Dani Hurst
editor@kansan.com
KANSAN CORRESPONDENT
Instructors and students steer clear of dating in class
It's 2:24 p.m. on the first Friday back from summer
1 Friday back from summer vacation. Most students are finished with their classes for the day, and are already planning for the weekend of debauchery that will commence once the sun hits the horizon (for some, even sooner).
But for students in a certain German class, there is at least
ass period standing between them and their highly-anticipated first weekend back in Lawrence.
With no instructor in sight, idle chatter fills the room, volleying between people slumped in their desks, passing by those no glassy-eyed by
the idea of weekend plans to notice.
Then the classroom door opens, and in steps the teacher. Sluggish movements become alert as wandering eyes focus on, and follow the woman who has just entered.
Sleek and tall, her curly blonde hair bounces at her shoulders as she makes her way to the front of the room.
A collective gasp escapes the guys as they swivel their heads and bodies to get a better look.
Grant Wagner, Bennington sophomore, is among them. Thoughts of the weekend ahead are temporarily forgotten as the
woman introduces herself in a genuine and endearing German accent, and class begins.
"Ever since the first day, I thought she was a very pretty woman." Wagner said.
He also said he's pretty sure the other guys in the class would agree with him. Her German accent is also very alluring, he said.
Wagner is not the only person who found his foreign language instructor attractive.
Zak Beasley, Kansas City, Mo., junior, can relate to Wagner's story.
For Beasley, it was the spring semester of his freshman year when he took French 120 and found out what it was like to be fascinated with a college instructor.
It could be a good thing, Beasley said. Even though he tries hard in all his classes, Beasley said that this could be an extra reason to pay attention and succeed.
"You want to impress them, so you try to do really well in their class." Beasley said.
When they're talking to you,
Beasley said, you're more focused on the fact that they are talking to you than on what they're actually saying to you.
Beasley said that although it's great having a pretty teacher, it can get in the way during class.
A GTA in the French department, who asked that her name not be used, recounted the times she was hit on by her students when she was teaching at another public university.
Two of her students, who happened to be in the same 100-level class, asked her out on dates. She declined both offers, she said, but would have possibly reconsidered if they had not been her students at the time.
The students behaved in class, she said, so it didn't really affect her ability to teach them.
"I tried not to pay attention or to favor them," she said.
She said she was also OK with becoming friends with her former students.
are no longer students, she said,
because while they're students,
hanging out outside the classroom could be considered favoritism.
"It's normal to develop a relationship with your students," she said, especially if the class is five days a week.
It's much better when they
There are those cases, however, when the roles are reversed.
Anna Schirer, Maize sophomore, said she remembered an incident she had with a professor last year.
She said she always felt like he was hitting on her, asking her if she wanted to go out for coffee.
in her final paper, he sent her an email saying that he wanted to discuss the paper — which he found excellent — with her over dinner.
Schirer said when she turned
"I knew this was a line because the paper was complete crap." Schier said.
He asked her out once more, saying that because finals were finished, she wouldn't be nearly as busy Again, she declined.
"I told myself that it was because he was my teacher, but
actually it might have been because he was going bald," Schirer said.
Schirer said she would probably not date a professor, and would only date a GTA after their semester together was finished.
"If it's meant to be, it can wait a semester." Schirer said.
Photo Illustration by Ryan Howe
Jessica Phan, Overland Park sophomore, smiled slyly as she remembered her philosophy teacher from fall 2004.
She said she remembered his Australian accent and amazing body, as well as his strong facial features and great confidence.
"The only reason I went to class was for him," Phan said.
She also said he was a good teacher for good measure.
Unlike the others, however, Phan said she would not have been apprehensive if he approached her.
"I would have gone out with him or started a relationship with him if he approached me in a heartbeat." Phan said.
She said the fact that he was a teacher did not discourage her. In fact, she said it made the situation more enticing.
"You always hear about people dating their TAs or teachers," Phan said. "It would be cool to say that I have."
Edited by Anne Burgard