Inside Higher Ed obtained the email sent to his students.
Since teaching this course, I have caught and seen cheating, been told to 'chill out,' 'get out of my space,' 'go back and teach,' [been] called a '[expletive] moron' to my face, [had] one student cheat by signing in for another, one student not showing up but claiming they did, listened to many hurtful and untrue rumors about myself and others, been caught between fights between students.... None of you, in my opinion, given the behavior in this class, deserve to pass, or graduate to become an Aggie, as you do not in any way embody the honor that the university holds graduates should have within their personal character. It is thus for these reasons why I am officially walking away from this course. I am frankly and completely disgusted. You all lack the honor and maturity to live up to the standards that Texas A&M holds, and the competence and/or desire to do the quality work necessary to pass the course just on a grade level.... I will no longer be teaching the course, and all are being awarded a failing grade.
Horwitz acknowledged that not all of the students engaged in this behavior but failed them nonetheless.
"Just ridiculous, I had never had a problem in the class. I thought I had done pretty well, done pretty well on the first test and then I get an email saying I am going to get an F in the class. It was overwhelming," senior John Shaw told KPRC. Shaw is worried the professor's decision will harm his job prospects upon graduation.
The university has intervened.
"None of them have failed until the end of the class, meaning the only reason a student would fail is because he or she has not performed the expectations for that particular class," said Patrick Louchouarn, the vice president of Academic affairs.
Louchouarn said the university respects Horwitz but none of the students will fail unless they fail to meet the academic standard for passing.
