When I arrived at my office this morning, there was a piece of Rick Santorum for President literature taped to my computer. I could not help but laugh at the wonderful thank-you note in the form of campaign literature.

Last week, when Republican presidential candidate Fred Krager met with some students in my office, a former student accompanied him. This student and I have had delightful conversations over the years. Although we are very professional publicly, we do enjoy tweaking each other privately.

Although we have very different political views, this student and I have a similar view of Santorum. At one point on Thursday, I quietly chanted, “Rick. Rick. He’s our man. If he can’t do it, nobody can” in order to get a reaction from my former student.

Obviously, I did not see the student post the Santorum literature. But when I saw it, I knew that he was the “culprit.” And I laughed.

At the LAND Conference, Dr. William Thelin argued that members of the faculty need to be comfortable enough to allow our students to tease us. The students at the conference assured me that I was fine in that area. And based on the Santorum literature I found this morning, it seems that my young Republican friend is perfectly comfortable teasing his former professor.

Maybe posting Santorum literature is a curious type of thank you note, but it was heartfelt and much appreciated.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD