ROCKEFELLER HALL—When a lecturer continues past the scheduled end of class, many students are afraid or indifferent, and pass over the opportunity to speak up. But when his History of Egypt lecture ran long last week, Moses Amramson ‘26 decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I was sitting next to my brother, Aaron, when I noticed the time. As everyone started slowly, loudly putting their stuff away, the professor just kept on talking, so I nudged Aaron and pointed toward the clock,” Amramson said. “I might not be the best speaker, but I have that fire in me, you know? When I see injustice being done to my people, it’s like I’m surrounded by a burning— Well, it’s like something’s burning. I don’t know. Anyway, Aaron agreed to talk to the professor with me.”
Just as Professor Ramesses Paroh hit the 78-minute mark of the scheduled 75-minute lecture, the brothers rose, and told Paroh, “Thus saith the clock, let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the eateries.”
According to witnesses, Paroh replied, “What is the clock, that I should obey it and let you go? I do not know the clock and I will not let you go. Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”
“The professor’s heart seemed pretty hardened against letting us go, but pretty soon, he relented,” recalled Zipporah Jethro ‘28. “Moses was at the front, opening the doors as we hurried out of the classroom, before the professor could change his mind. I even left my muffin behind in the rush to get out of there.”
Paroh could not be reached for comment. According to his teaching assistant, the professor is preoccupied with several infestations and currently hospitalized with boils.
