Computer science professor opens tab for students during class at TOPO

Students in Ketan Mayer-Patel’s Computer Science 426 class were treated to a field trip to Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery during class Tuesday after a technological problem kept the instructor from presenting any material.

Mayer-Patel said the adventure started when he was unable to get his laptop to connect to the projector in his Hamilton Hall classroom.

“Usually, I just hook up my laptop, but it wasn’t working,” he said. “It kept flickering. There was another way to connect to that projector, but with my computer, you need a special dongle.”

About 100 students followed Mayer-Patel across campus to TOPO, after he made a joke about holding class there if he couldn’t connect his laptop. He said he decided to make the joke a reality.

“We all thought he was kidding, but he actually went, and everyone followed him,” said Amy Zhang, a junior computer science major.

After he opened a tab for his students, Mayer-Patel said he urged restaurant staff to card anyone ordering an alcoholic beverage. In total, the students generated a tab of about $500, all of which Mayer-Patel paid.

“I didn’t want to force the students to spend their own money, because that doesn’t seem fair,” he said.

Despite the novelty of the event, the class still got work done. Mayer-Patel said he visited groups of students, asking about the progress of their projects and giving feedback.

“It turned out to be actually more productive than you would imagine,” Mayer-Patel said. “It was kind of a nice break from the usual.”

Zachary Kaplan, a senior computer science and mathematics double major, said he enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the class meeting.

“It was nice just to be able to sit there and have a conversation, not necessarily looking for feedback, but more just bouncing ideas off of him,” Kaplan said. “I actually think yesterday was a huge benefit to the whole final project.”

Students applauded the unconventional class meeting for providing them the opportunity to talk one-on-one with their professor and fellow students in a fun environment.

“He made himself very comfortable with us,” said Ali Schneider, a senior information science major.

Mayer-Patel said he was unaware of any faculty policies that would restrict him from holding class at a bar.

“If there were rules broken, I’m hoping that there would be some amount of forgiveness,” he said. “It was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment, quirky thing to do.”

Patrick Hahn, a senior computer science and mathematical decision sciences double major, said the class period was weird, but hilarious.

“It was probably the best class period I’ve ever had,” he said.

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