Is it really common for professors to invite students to their houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the Sciences - very common. Many social events, mostly in professors’ homes. Everyone is invited- spouses, children, etc. Now we do it in parks b/c COVID but Professors are officially hosting, working the grill, sending the invitations, etc.

Very common around holidays as well, to host all students who are not able to make it back home for the holiday feast, or to treat foreign students to our traditions. We typically have a houseful on thanksgiving.

Yes, at an ivy.

This describes what my graduate school experience was like. Large gatherings at professor’s homes was completely the norm (Econ dept, FWIW). We’d get tipsy and start doing proofs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happened several times when I was in law school. Not Yale, but another Ivy League school. I would not look up this as socializing with our professors and I don't think any of the other law students did. When I was a 1L, one professor opened his house during the first week of school for everyone in our section for a reception. We politely chatted with him and with each other and spouses. Not everyone came. Later, as 2Ls and 3Ls, profs would sometimes invite a seminar class over to his/her house, either for a discussion or for a potluck dinner. Again, this isn't really socializing.

I also attended a law professor's bris for his child when I worked closely with that professor. No, the professor did not invite every student on campus to the bris, nor would he have to. Rules of academic decorum are based on common sense, not on Title VII.

But how is this fair? Can a professor really be expected to be subjective with a student that he is personally friends with? I'm literally shocked that this sort of thing is allowed.
Your first example of a professor having a reception at him home where all of the students are invited is fine, but the second example seems very inappropriate, and unfair to the other students.

[Anonymous]

Went to a large state school and invited (along with other students) several times that I remember. Usually dinner, other students and professors present. Usually the occasion had to do with completed research, end of semester, holiday and not going home, or thank you for being on research team. Major was psychology and I was part of a lab. Language teacher also had our small class over for a meal with his family. In grad school the Dean had dinners at her home on campus as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was invited to dinners at two different professors homes in law school.

I think it used to be much more common than it is now, like a generation ago.

I'd be pissed if I knew that other students in my class were getting invitations to parties at the professor's house and I wasn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Sciences - very common. Many social events, mostly in professors’ homes. Everyone is invited- spouses, children, etc. Now we do it in parks b/c COVID but Professors are officially hosting, working the grill, sending the invitations, etc.

Very common around holidays as well, to host all students who are not able to make it back home for the holiday feast, or to treat foreign students to our traditions. We typically have a houseful on thanksgiving.

Yes, at an ivy.

This describes what my graduate school experience was like. Large gatherings at professor’s homes was completely the norm (Econ dept, FWIW). We’d get tipsy and start doing proofs.

NERDS!!! At the last one I hosted, after a few beers the graduate students made an amazing academic family tree of everyone there on the back of a pizza box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Used to be more common. As a child my dad had each entire class over once a semester for a dinner of Indian food. But it was a small college so classes were probably 25-40 students.

By the time I was a professor it was far less common. I never had a space big enough to have a class over and would certainly never invite just a few students.

Inviting an entire class, fine. Inviting just the favorites, no way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the Sciences - very common. Many social events, mostly in professors’ homes. Everyone is invited- spouses, children, etc. Now we do it in parks b/c COVID but Professors are officially hosting, working the grill, sending the invitations, etc.

Very common around holidays as well, to host all students who are not able to make it back home for the holiday feast, or to treat foreign students to our traditions. We typically have a houseful on thanksgiving.

Yes, at an ivy.

How are professors able to invite ALL of their students to parties at their homes? Are their houses really that big?

[Anonymous]

My DH is a law prof. Totally normal and usually there is an open signup or it is a seminar/reading group. Many years we host students for Thanksgiving who can’t go home for whatever reason (our family is out of town, so why not). The school encourages mentoring strongly and there is a budget for lunches/coffee/etc. with students. How are you supposed to write a good, personal recommendation if you don’t know them at least a little? Also, it helps you connect different personalities to the right clerkships.

I think the Amy Chua situation was a problem because her husband is a creep who isn’t supposed to be around students socially.

[Anonymous]

Happened all the time at my slac- the university even paid to cater if the professor had students for dinner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Students are over 18 and well beyond the age of consent. There is nothing wrong with it - particularly in grad school.

Really, so nothing wrong with professors picking favorites and socializing with them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Used to be more common. As a child my dad had each entire class over once a semester for a dinner of Indian food. But it was a small college so classes were probably 25-40 students.

By the time I was a professor it was far less common. I never had a space big enough to have a class over and would certainly never invite just a few students.

Inviting an entire class, fine. Inviting just the favorites, no way.

Open signups are an easy way to deal with this. A dozen at a time or whatever, offered a few times during the semester. It isn’t favoritism, it is first come/first serve and you don’t have to participate. I can’t see why that is a problem.

[Anonymous]

We did this st a large state school. I was part of a stem club sponsored by the professor. She invited the whole club over a couple times. Not everyone in the club was is her classes. I was and dtill didn't fo well in it.
Dh went to a rural SLAC and it was very common there since classes are small. He remained friends with a couple professors and we exchange holiday cards, visit their house during reunions and they offer to read his drafts pre journal submission.
And no it wasn't fair to other students, but higher education, especially in SLACs is not only about meritocracy, but about relationships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Undergrad in the 90's (Ivy) - I went to parties at the houses of two professors I worked for as a research assistant (they both invited all of the undergrad research assistants). And to my German professor's house (small, friendly class of eight - he and his wife made us German food). Good memories.

It's very common in STEM for graduate students - hell, I house sat for my advisor a few times. Not sure why it's a problem.

Because it creates a conflict of interest when it comes to GRADING. Gee, for Ivy graduates, a lot of you people seem pretty thick not to get why this is problematic.

[Anonymous]

I went to a small liberal arts school and went to professors’ houses a lot. Never alone, but in a small group. One seminar I was in met at the professor’s house once a week. We’d have wine and cheese, talk about literature, and I’d feel very grown up...it was pretty cool. Sometimes a whole class was invited to a professor’s home. Sometimes just my boyfriend and I were invited to a particular professor’s house for dinner because we really connected with him and worked with him on a study he was doing. Spending time with my teachers outside of class was one of the best parts of my college experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did this st a large state school. I was part of a stem club sponsored by the professor. She invited the whole club over a couple times. Not everyone in the club was is her classes. I was and dtill didn't fo well in it.
Dh went to a rural SLAC and it was very common there since classes are small. He remained friends with a couple professors and we exchange holiday cards, visit their house during reunions and they offer to read his drafts pre journal submission.
And no it wasn't fair to other students, but higher education, especially in SLACs is not only about meritocracy, but about relationships.

LIFE is about relationships. Is that fair? Who cares, it is reality.