Education Lab
Fresno City College student says professor told her not to breastfeed during online lecture
As Fresno City College student Marcella Mares heads into mid-semester, she hopes not to clash with instructors again over needing to breastfeed her daughter during class time.
Mares said that on Sept. 23, a statistics instructor told students that it would be mandatory for them to leave their cameras and microphones on during the nearly 4-hour class because participation was lacking. Mares emailed the instructor, telling him she hoped her grade wouldn’t suffer if she had to turn it off temporarily to feed her 10-month-old daughter.
The reply she received was surprising, she said.
“Please do not breastfeed your daughter during class time because that is not what you should be doing. Just do that after class,” the instructor wrote back in an email Mares showed The Bee.
Although Mares ended up dropping the class this week for reasons unrelated to her need to breastfeed, she shared her experience in a Facebook post that was shared more than 80 times as of Friday.
When the class began a few minutes after she received the reply, Mares said the instructor brought up her email to the class.
According to Mares, the instructor brought up during class that he’d received a “weird” email about students needing to do “inappropriate” things during his class. He told parents in the class that they would need to “get creative” caring for their children, because they needed to be listening to the lectures, Mares said.
She says she felt embarrassed.
“He’s not only being discriminating against me,” Mares said. “He’s also discriminating against the other parents in his classroom. It was really unprofessional of him to say my email out loud and call it weird and inappropriate to feed my baby.”
According to California law, colleges must make accommodations for students who are pregnant, giving birth, or breastfeeding. The student is allowed to make up work and may not be academically penalized for taking time away from class.
Mares emailed the instructor back, asking for rules regarding breastfeeding in his class and at Fresno City College. She added on Fresno City College Title IX coordinator Lorraine Smith to the email, who is also the dean of the Allied Health, Physical Education, and Athletics Division.
A Fresno City College official on Wednesday confirmed that Smith looked into Mares’ complaint.
Smith told The Bee the situation was a unique one because of online learning, but accommodations are still the same.
“I think some instructors just say, ‘No, I don’t make exceptions for anything,’ not realizing that, yes we do need to make exceptions.”
“We would allow them to leave class for lactation, and then come back,” she said. “So it’s just kind of making the transition, what would happen face-to-face, versus what would happen online. So the students still have the same protections, no matter what the modality is.”
Smith said after contacting the instructor, he sent Mares another email, apologizing and telling her she may turn off her camera at any time.
“I am sorry for the inconvenience in regard to your intention of breastfeeding your baby,” the instructor wrote in the email. “From now on, you have the right to breastfeed your baby at any given time during class, which includes doing group worksheet, listening to the lecture, and taking the quiz or exam.”
Mares, a criminology major, said she wished the instructor would have apologized in front of the class so that other parents could hear.
“I don’t think that he realized what he was doing at the time,” Mares said. “But I do believe that other students did get offended because somebody also said, ‘What are we supposed to do with our babies when they’re crying and what if our children need to come in?”
Smith said students wondering about their rights can check the college’s website for more information. She said she is working on keeping faculty in the loop about the rules, too.
Mares said she would give this advice to parents who are feeding their babies: “Just stand your ground. Don’t let anybody tell you when and where you can feed your baby, even if it is somebody that is higher (up) than you.”
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.
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