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During an office hours session in October 2023, to emphasize the importance of taking the subject of physics more seriously, University of Washington physics professor Aurel Bulgac took out a bread knife and asked two students if they were confident enough in their answers to physics questions to cut off a finger if they were wrong. The students remained in the office and completed Bulgac’s class without incident, but when one student told an administrator about the incident, the administrator urged the student to file a complaint. The student did not file a complaint, but UW suspended Bulgac from campus anyway, restricted his academic activities, and investigated him over the incident. 

Bulgac contacted ÃÛÖ­ÏãÌÒ’s Faculty Legal Defense Fund, which arranged legal representation for him. UW then offered to restore Bulgac to the classroom, but only on the condition that he take several training courses and apologize to the students. With the help of the FLDF attorney, UW finally restored Bulgac to the classroom in September of 2024, nearly a full year later.