Laurentian University student launches petition to reinstate Michael Persinger

A first-year Laurentian university student has started a petition to have a controversial professor reinstated.

Michael Persinger, PhD, was removed from teaching his first-year psychology class after he asked students to sign a waiver permitting offensive words during lectures, including profanity and homophobic slurs.

First-year student Marc-André Huneault told CBC News he started an online petition because many students in the class felt Persinger was unfairly removed.

"We pay thousands of dollars a year to make those choices, and we chose a course specifically lectured by Dr. Persinger. So, I would really like to finish the year with him."

The university said asking students to sign a form as a condition of taking a class is against policy.

But removing the professor halfway through the course is unfair to students, said Huneault.

"I believe that we should have been consulted before they took their decision in their own hands by relieving the professor."

The class is now being taught by the chair of Laurentian's psychology department.

The petition has more than 350 signatures.