Earlier this month it was reported that a Penn State University English instructor posted a student’s assignment online (but anonymously) complete with his criticisms and corrections in red ink.
Never mind that Thomas Joudrey wasn’t using best practices with his use of a crimson pen (I’m joking; I always used red pen because, after all, it sticks out), but he took a lot of heat regarding the ethics of putting the assignment on social media.
“undergrad writing has gotten so bad. look what one of my students turned in,” Joudrey wrote on X. (And yes, that’s exactly how he wrote it.)
“Netizens quickly expressed their disapproval, arguing that the professor was inappropriately mocking the student on a public platform,” University Herald reported. “Many pointed out that educators should not humiliate their students, especially in such a public manner. One user questioned if the professor had received permission from the students to share their work.”
But how can there be any “humiliation” if the author of the assignment isn’t known? Joudrey clearly blotted out the student’s name on his tweet (below). Any such “humiliation” can occur only if the student in question decides to identify the assignment as his/hers.
Others pointed out the political correctness of Joudrey’s comments on the paper. For instance, he labeled the use of “man” and “mankind” as “sexist,” and wrote the phrase “petty struggles” “trivializes trauma.”
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undergrad writing has gotten so bad. look what one of my students turned in pic.twitter.com/w4dJ6mu85o
— Tom Joudrey (@TomJoudrey) January 6, 2025
Many just outright trashed him.
“So you […] destroyed his paper based on your own political beliefs that have been rejected by every state in mass [sic]?” wrote one commenter. “Do you think the word ‘humanity’ is also sexist because it has the word ‘man’ in it?” asked another.
“You should be fired immediately,” exclaimed yet another.
My personal Spidey Sense began tingling after reading Joudrey’s initial tweet with its lack of capitalization. A university instructor — ripping a student’s writing with his own poor grammar? I know it’s social media, but c’mahn.
Others in the thread made a discovery: The “assignment” appeared to be text from 20th-century philosopher Karl Popper (pictured). Joudrey’s comment after his initial tweet — “Wow, twitter really popped off on this one, but I guess that’s the price of living in an open society” — tipped a few off.
A Google search doesn’t show Joudrey on any of PSU’s websites; his Linkedin page notes he serves as a “media relations specialist” at the school, and got his masters and PhD there. (He is noted as part of the PSU English Department at ResearchGate, and Rate My Professors, however).
Luckily, I saw Joudrey has open DMs on X, so I simply asked him what the deal was. And he responded promptly.
“I’m not a professor, and the paper was not written by a student,” Joudrey wrote. “The joke is that the text is actually the opening paragraph of Karl Popper’s 1945 landmark work of political philosophy, ‘The Open Society and Its Enemies.’”
Well played, Tom. Well played.
Aside from a few recent review bombs on Rate My Professors regarding his joke-of-a-tweet, Joudrey overwhelmingly has positive reviews. Comments include “Tom’s a great guy and fantastic professor. Honestly made me want to be an English major,” “the professor provides excellent feedback and specific project criteria,” and “Tom is the man! He exudes enthusiasm for the material during teaching and efficiently guides classroom discussion.”
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IMAGE: KanversationTM/X; Wikipedia
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