Disruptive student behavior in a college classroom: The case of the sole mutineer

A student in a Health Care Management course goes on a tirade by verbally criticizing the course and the way the course is taught. The student asserts that a third of the students in the class agree with these criticisms. The student fails to comply with any of the instructor’s requests to stop talking or to leave the classroom, and at one point the professor threatens to phone Campus Police. The student refused to stop talking which prevented students from taking the exam under reasonable test conditions. One student in the class called out requesting the disruptive student to stop talking and to allow the others to take the exam. His request had no impact so he upped his game by increasing the intensity of his request, eventually yelling across the room at the disruptive student to “shut the hell up.” To the apparent amazement of the professor and the other students, the disruptive student stopped talking. Nonetheless, the faculty member and students wondered whether the ordeal was over and if things might get physical.