Tag Archive for 'Millersville-University'

Return of the drunken pirate

Published on December 4, 2008 by Trench Reynolds in Lawsuit and MySpace. 0 Comments Tags: drinking, lawsuit, Millersville-University, Stacy-Snyder.

Court Rules Against Teacher in MySpace ‘Drunken Pirate’ Case:

Who remembers the Drunken Pirate of MySpace Stacy Snyder? For those of you with short memories she was a student at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. She was going for her teaching degree but was denied the degree because she had a picture on her MySpace of her in a pirate hat while drinking that said ‘Drunken Pirate’.

She sued the school but the courts made her walk the plank.

According to the court’s decision the school cited examples of her poor competency in its refusal to graduate Snyder.

Before filing lawsuits educate yourself on what the first amendment is really about. And like I always say, nothing on the internet is private.

School fires shot across the bow at 'Drunken Pirate'

Published on May 10, 2007 by Trench Reynolds in Lawsuit. 10 Comments Tags: lawsuit, Millersville-University, Stacy-Snyder.

CV says it did not ask MU to punish student teacher:
Last week I posted about Stacy Snyder, aka The Drunken Pirate. She’s the woman who had her teaching degree denied by Millersville University. Originally the allegation was that the Conestoga Valley School District, where Ms. Snyder was a student teacher, threatened Millersville not to give her the teaching degree because of the now infamous “drunken pirate” picture. Conestoga Valley School District says different…

Snyder was given a poor evaluation based on her performance at the high school and was warned not to direct students to her MySpace page, Kelin said.

However, Kelin said Snyder continued to direct students to the Web page.

“Snyder required ‘significant remediation’ as a teacher, and her evaluation reflected serious performance problems,” Kelin said. “Contrary to what is alleged in Ms. Snyder’s lawsuit, nobody from the school district threatened that it would not accept any more Millersville University student teachers unless it punished Ms. Snyder.”

Snyder mentioned on her Web site she had been warned about posting online messages to students, Kelin said.

According to a statement issued by the school district, “Snyder’s Web site invites students to continue looking at her page, and in apparent response to Ms. Reinking’s advice that such an invitation was unprofessional says, ‘I don’t think that they would stoop that low as to mess with my future.”

Snyder submitted an apology to the high school and university after being told she would not receive an education degree or teaching certificate.

In the letter, released by the district, she wrote, “This incident has caused me to open my eyes and realize that I am the only person to blame.”

If she’s the only person to blame then why the lawsuit?

What do you do with a drunken pirate?

Published on April 30, 2007 by Trench Reynolds in Lawsuit. 14 Comments Tags: drunken-pirate, lawsuit, Millersville-University, Stacy-Snyder.

Apparently you deny her of her teaching degree.

Would-Be Teacher Denied Degree Over ‘Drunken Pirate’ MySpace Photo Sues University:
27-year-old Stacy Snyder, pictured at left, had her teaching degree denied by Millersville University because of said picture. She was denied her teaching degree the night before her graduation and instead received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Snyder is suing the school.

Snyder received “superior” or “competent” ratings on her final student-teacher evaluation in all areas except “professionalism,” in which she was labeled “unsatisfactory,” according to the suit filed Wednesday.

“I dreamed about being a teacher for a long time,” said Snyder, 27, of Strasburg, who has two young sons. She now works as a nanny.

The photo, taken at a 2005 Halloween party, shows Snyder wearing a pirate hat while drinking from a plastic “Mr. Goodbar” cup. It was posted on her own MySpace site.

“There were errors in judgment that relate to Pennsylvania’s Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators,” wrote professor J. Barry Girvin, who supervised Snyder’s work, according to the suit.

Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, in a meeting that day accused Snyder of promoting underage drinking, the suit states.

That maybe the stupidest thing I ever heard or at least in the top ten. Even though the pic was labeled “Drunken Pirate” I fail to see how that promotes underage drinking. She does not look intoxicated in the picture and there’s no way to tell what she is drinking from the cup. Not to mention the fact that she was above the legal drinking age at the time the picture was taken.

Here’s the real culprit in this situation.

Snyder did her student-teaching at Conestoga Valley High School in 2006. Conestoga Valley officials told the college they would stop accepting student-teachers from Millersville if she went unpunished, the lawsuit said.

I think the officials at Conestoga Valley High School need to unwad their panties.

Snyder is seeking $75K in damages.

Pic via The Smoking Gun.