During my four-and-a-half years at Cornell, I have been informed many a time — in person, in Sun columns, etc. — that the faculty seem to have a liberal bias and that conservative students tend to be offended when particular professors allow their political preferences to affect class discussions.

While I have never personally witnessed such a conflict, I do believe that it happens. And while I may very well agree with the political leanings of the professors in question, I am still troubled that they have so personally affected the learning experience of students in their classes.

That said, there is a big difference between professors affecting or limiting class discussion, and personally singling out students by, for example, removing them from their classes permanently.

Most of us do not know — and I do not care to ask —what political conflict drove Guest Room contributor Erik Jarva to send his column to The Sun’s opinion section for publication on December 1. But, frankly, it doesn’t matter what it was.

The fact is that a student was told that he was not welcome in class. And that’s wrong, regardless of the circumstance. And it got me thinking…

There was one column that I didn’t write last fall. I never knew quite how to tackle writing about the way my girlfriend was treated by her honors thesis advisor and the director of her major’s honors thesis program without appearing biased. There was probably also a bit of cowardice — fear that my past, present and future professors would be upset that I wrote something rather critical of some of their peers without naming names or giving many specifics.

But after reading Jarva’s column, it’s clear that enough is enough. While I don’t think that we have a true epidemic on our hands, I do think it’s time that episodes like this stop before a pattern evolves.

And I hope my past, present and future professors would agree.

* * *

There are many parallels between my girlfriend’s story and Jarva’s. They both involved disagreements with professors, and both students went to deans and administrators who refused to help except to tell them that the situation would not affect their grades. In fact, like Jarva, my girlfriend got an A. She even graduated cum laude.

But since when are professors and deans all about grades? I thought it was our job as students to worry about the grades and the professors’ job to make sure we learn as much as possible.

Kicking someone out of a class for an entire semester or, say, recusing oneself from reading a students honor’s thesis three-quarters of the way through a student’s senior year (the details of which you are about to read) doesn’t seem to be the best way for a professor to do his or her job.

* * *

In my girlfriend’s major, the honors thesis program has a director (which rotates every few years) and several advisors who are assigned to the individual students. According to students at the program’s initial meeting, the director announced that if there were any problems with particular advisors — for instance, lack of responsiveness — they should not hesitate to come to him or her for it to be rectified. It was insinuated that these comments would be taken in confidence.

One afternoon in April, I got a phone call while I was at work. My girlfriend was hysterical on the other end of the line, and I ran over to her place to find out what was wrong. When I got there, she showed me an e-mail from her advisor, admonishing her for complaining to the head of the program about the advisor’s prior lack of responsiveness and accusing her of trying to play the two professors against each other.

A few minutes later, another e-mail from the advisor arrived saying that he or she was “recusing” him or herself from reading my girlfriend’s thesis. Understandably flipping out and shocked that her confidence had been breached, my girlfriend immediately called the program director, leaving a message asking what was going on and how to rectify the situation. The director e-mailed back, flippantly writing that she was immature and manipulative and should “learn [her] lesson.”

Over the next month, my girlfriend completed her thesis without any advisor’s assistance.

* * *

I want to make clear that I don’t believe The Sun’s opinion pages to be the correct forum for resolving minor problems with tough professors who won’t give unnecessary extensions or the like. That said, the small but still discouraging number of situations like this warrant attention at the highest levels of the University administration, and I am hoping that just a little more print in this section might force someone to look deeper into how some professors are treating their students.

Regardless of whether the conflict is political or otherwise, no student ought to be discouraged from learning — be it sitting in on a class or writing a thesis — in an intellectually nurturing environment. Additionally, students should feel that when a professor says that a conversation is private that they are able to speak freely without worrying that their confidence will be subsequently breached. Deans and administrators should not try to brush professional lapses under the rug by guaranteeing an A.

Because for students, sometimes it’s not all about the grades.