16-year-old Phillip Garber, who has a stutter, was told by his college professor not to raise his hand in class, calling his speaking "disruptive." INSIDE EDITION has the story.
Teenager Phillip Garber hits the books at his college campus.
But 16-year-old Garber has a bad stutter, and what happened to him in history class is making news across America.
Garber had his hand raised for almost the entire 75-minute history class at the County College of Morris in New Jersey, but he says he was never called on by the professor. Then he received an e-mail from the professor urging him not to ask or answer any questions in class because of his stutter!
It stated: "Please see me before and after class if you have any questions so we do not infringe on other people's time."
"The letter that I got made me very angry," Garber says.
He says he met with the teacher, who told him: "Your speaking is disruptive."
"The teacher never voiced any concern to me,"
Garber's extreme stutter echoes the problems of King George VI in the Oscar®-winning movie The King's Speech.
After The New York Times published the story, Garber's stutter became national news.
"I felt that it was very important for my voice to be heard," Garber said.
He was moved to another class. The professor involved has not commented, and the college hasn't revealed if she has been disciplined.
Garber's mom says she couldn't be prouder.
"He's strong. He's much stronger than I am. He's much braver than I am. I never would have done any of that," she said.
The college says it takes all forms of discrimination seriously, but won't comment on what action, if any, it might take against the professor.
