Chemistry Professor Claims to Receive Hate Letter

A sense of unease now permeates the classroom of Dr. Fernando Commodari, Professor of Chemistry, after Commodari informed his students two weeks ago that he has received from an unnamed class member a slew of "hate e-mails."

On Wednesday, December 15, Commodari entered his classroom in Furst Hall to begin what his students expected to be a routine General Chemistry lecture. Instead, Commodari proceeded to preface the lesson with an admonition; he notified his students of his intent to swiftly investigate the threatening letters that were sent to his e-mail account via the Internet. Commodari did not elaborate on the content of the e-mails, but The Commentator has learned that included in the letters were both disparaging remarks against his mother and his personal life, and the word ‘kill’ - although the context of the word has yet to be clarified.

The day’s peculiar events were just beginning for Mark, one YC junior who requested that his identity be withheld for "fear of retaliation." Commodari had informed Mark that he wanted to speak with him after class. During the class break, an unsuspecting Mark approached Commodari and the puzzled junior was then informed by his instructor that the aforementioned threats had been signed with Mark’s name. Mark says that Commodari warned the student that a full investigation was under way, and that any discovered wrongdoing would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The student, baffled and intimidated, immediately proceeded to Andrew Leibowitz, Coordinator of Student Services, for advice on how to handle the unnerving situation. Leibowitz sent him to the Office of Security, where the student filed a report and relayed the day’s events to Don Summers, Chief of Yeshiva Security. Summers promised to investigate the story; the scene seemed relatively familiar to Summers, who according to sources has done "his fair share of research" on complaints registered against the professor.

One chemistry student in the class said, "I think this is a fabricated story, most probably invented by Commodari." Commodari has refused numerous requests to produce the actual letters, but guarantees their existence.

If this prevalent theory were proven to be true, Commodari’s decision to single out Mark as the particular student remains a mystery. Other members of the class report no bad blood to have existed between the two prior to this incident. "Why would he sign his own name," asked one YC junior. "I know him; there’s no chance that he was even involved." Commodari himself has changed his story over the course of the past week, at times telling newspaper sources that he believes the student, someone whom he outright labeled a "bastard," undoubtedly lays behind the threats, and at times denouncing, almost entirely, any suspicion of the committed student’s involvement.

The Internet server from which the e-mails originated, Yahoo, has confirmed the identity of the sender, according to Commodari, but will not release that information. As a result, Commodari has announced his intentions to sue them as well. The accused Junior attests that he has no Yahoo account whatsoever, significantly diminishing the specter of his involvement.

Without confirmation from Yahoo, Commodari’s story remains suspect to many, and his refusal to produce the little evidence that he claims to possess continues to beg the question to his students – did anything really happen?