What Your College Professor Thinks About Your Crush On Them

If you’ve ever wanted to know what your college professor thinks about your crush on them, you’ve come to the right place. When we were researching the “What to do when you’re crushing on your college professor” blog, we found a great teacher discussion going on at Professor Hugo Schwyzer’s blog.

Below are excerpts of this discussion with three college professors sounding off on classroom crushes and teacher/student relationships.

1. “I feel like a lot of my students — especially female students — thrive on the attention and approval that I offer. That is, for many of them, the college classroom is the first time and place they’ve been treated as someone worthwhile, who had a contribution to make and who was inherently interesting. This, of course, is not too far off from courtship and is easy to connect with romance. For female students, I think there’s the added “bonus” of being judged and respected on the basis of their mental abilities rather than on their physical attributes — very seductive to some young women.” - Dustin
2. “Teachers don’t screw their students. Period. Not because students with crushes are wounded baby birds, or because they’re seeking father figures, or because there’s something “missing” (ugh) inside them. We don’t screw our students because screwing students messes up the teacher-student relation, destroys the trust that all students, not just the ones with crushes, are entitled to feel in their instructors, and destroys the teacher’s integrity (both real and perceived) with regard to grading standards. That’s really all the justification anybody should need.” - Sophonisba
3. “If we’re doing our job right, we have the power to change the way a student thinks about himself or herself. At our best, those of us who love to teach are practiced seducers, Casanovas of the classroom. But my agenda isn’t about sexual conquest, it’s about creating an interest and a passion where none previously existed. It’s about getting students to want something they didn’t know they wanted! … Though some students may sexualize their crushes, what they really want is to continue to feel the way you make them feel: excited, energized, provoked, challenged.” - Professor Hugo Schwyzer