A student at Loyola University in Chicago says she was given the exact same deck of slides for two different university classes.
The video, posted to TikTok by user Alex (@alexandriamilk), shows the two slide decks side by side. They are, as she claims, exactly the same.
Alex’s original TikTok has over 2.2 million views, with a follow-up video receiving an additional 56,000.
“Taking two courses that are presenting the same exact slides word for word,” she wrote in the text overlaying the first video.
She then says she complained about it to the director of her program, writing, “emailing the director to complain that I’m paying $46,000 for this.”
She also notes in the comments of this video that “these are TWO different classes with TWO different books.”
As she later explains in the comments, “If I paid for two books I expect two different presentations.”
In a follow-up video, Alex says the chair of her school’s department of management finally responded.
“Dear Alex,” she reads from the email, “I have discussed the matter with your instructor and figured out the reason for the overlapping slides between the two classes. We are currently in search of a new full-time instructor… and expect an improvement in both differentiation and coordination between the two courses.”
However, according to Alex, the response was less than adequate.
“If he thinks I’m going to stop there, you’re wrong,” she concludes.
In the comments section, users took Alex’s side.
“Like I can get EXPELLED for plagiarism but y’all can do THIS,” one user pointed out.
“I think you should submit a plagiarism complaint,” a second user said.
Others shared their own similar stories from their time in school.
“After graduating college I realized how much of a scam it is,” one wrote.
“I dropped out of film school [because] it was just reading entire textbooks and having a prof give one sentence feedback on 2-3 assignments,” another recalled.
“My math teacher is literally using my last years math teachers videos to ‘teach,’” a third contributed. “It’s an online class.”
For Alex, this incident showcased a problem with American education. When speaking with the Daily Dot, she said that, while a solution to her specific problem would be nice, she’s more interested in a radical shift in the system itself.
“A refund, of course, would be lovely in a dream world,” she said. “However, after posting my TikTok and getting the amount of responses back that others have gone through the same, why stop at that? Colleges in the United States take complete advantage of their students, and I have to stand up for myself and them.”
As for her viral videos, Alex isn’t sure if the university saw them yet.
“They have not contacted me yet, but I wouldn’t put it past them to end up seeing it at some point due to the massive following it has contributed,” she said.
Alex said it is “time for change.”
“I am not going to stop here for the sake of students across the globe,” she said. “I see the frustration amongst myself and my peers, and while the university believes that the response I was given was suitable, it isn’t.”
Loyola University in Chicago did not immediately respond to Daily Dot’s request for comment.
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