Professor finds Bible in classroom — then notifies school's Bias Incident Reporting Team about it

Bible-carrying students and staff at George Mason University, take heed: You might not want to leave your copies of the Good Book sitting in classrooms unattended — because their very presence just might get documented by your school's Bias Incident Reporting Team.

I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record

So it's like this: In November 2019, a professor found a Bible and an accompanying CD in her classroom, the College Fix reported.

Apparently unable or unwilling to put them aside for the owner to pick up later, the professor gathered the items and then reported them to the school's Bias Incident Reporting Team, the outlet said.

And how did the Bias Incident Reporting Team respond? The Fix said the team classified the incident as "discrimination" and "harassment" against "religion."

Seemingly to shore up her case, the professor included photographs of the Bible in her report, the outlet said, adding that the Bias Incident Reporting Team collected the items in question. The outcome of the report wasn't made clear.

More from the Fix:

The incident was one of 12 filed with the school's bias reporting website between January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2020 and obtained by The College Fix through an open records law request. The documents provided by the university were redacted to protect the privacy of students involved.

The reports were obtained as The Fix continues to investigate the types of complaints that are lodged through bias response teams at college campuses across the nation. Nearly two dozen universities have been included in the investigation so far since it launched in 2019.

According to George Mason's Campus Climate website, students and professors are encouraged to report and "act of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, violence or criminal offense committed against any person, group or property that appears to be motivated by prejudice or bias."

According to the school, "bias" could mean "negative feelings and beliefs with respect to others race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age social class, political affiliation, disability, veteran status, club affiliation or organizational membership."

The outlet said a George Mason spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the Bible incident.

Anything else?

The Fix noted a September 2019 incident involving a communications professor who allegedly asked a student to give up an accommodation that allowed late submissions of completed assignments. The student said the professor made him or her feel "very unsafe" because the professor implied the student was "taking advantage of disability services," the outlet said.

Then the professor allegedly asked the student about the nature of the special accommodation, after which the student said it's "not something that I feel comfortable sharing," the Fix noted.

"She also pulled my [study] partner out of the room and tried to pressure her into making me present," the student added, according to the outlet. "My partner currently has a concussion, and the professor claimed that she was faking."

According to the Fix, the student also said "this teacher has a pattern of discrimination which goes against George Mason's code of ethics" and "is not a safe person to have in the classroom."