NJ College Prof Defends Treatment of Stuttering Student

The New Jersey college professor who asked a stuttering student not to speak in class says she didn't mean to silence him and is calling herself the "victim of a character assassination.''     

Elizabeth Snyder tells The New York Times she asked Philip Garber Jr. to pose his questions after class to put him at ease and not to take up too much class time.     

Snyder told the newspaper the 16-year-old "seemed to want to answer every question.'' She says there was "never any intent to stop him from speaking.''   

County College of Morris administrators said the history professor took the wrong approach and should have advised classmates to be patient.     

Snyder says she's received "the most hateful, vile, vicious e-mails'' since the story came out earlier this week.