A lack of respect and sense of entitlement have become problems for students at Chico State.

Take the recent story of Professor Janja Lalich leaving her “Women In Contemporary Societies” course.

Originally, it was thought that she left her class because some of her students filed a complaint against her through Student Judicial Affairs. Now it’s been revealed that she really left because she felt bullied and attacked by a small group of students.

Sure, Lalich was at fault when she called her students by their physical description (including race) in an attempt to learn their names, but she did apologize and change her methods.

What’s completely inappropriate in this situation is that this small group of students not only filed a complaint with Student Judicial Affairs after the apology, but also continued to be disrespectful to her and other students.

The fact that Lalich felt unsafe in her own classroom is so mind-boggling to me. I mean, I’ve seen and heard of people outright disrespecting their professor by calling them names or back talking them in class, but to take it so far as to make her feel unsafe? That’s completely ridiculous.

Those students who bullied her and every other student who thinks disrespecting a professor is OK needs a reality check.

Regardless of whether or not they disagreed with her was not an excuse for them to begin disrespecting, harassing or bullying her. They should have talked to Lalich in private or, if it really was a big issue, dropped the class and taken it with someone else.

It seriously saddens me that this and other stories of disrespect circle around this campus. I mean, how can we expect professors to respect students, if students can’t even show a little respect to them?

Megan Mann can be reached at [email protected] or @meganisthemann on Twitter.