Professor Disciplined for ‘Sexual Misconduct’ after Singing Beach Boys Song to Students

A professor at the University of Kentucky is being disciplined for “sexual misconduct” after singing a Beach Boys song to his students.

Administrators allege that the 1965 song, “California Girls,” by the Beach Boys, has lyrics that are “sexual in nature.” In an op-ed piece that appeared in the Lexington Herald-Ledger over the weekend, University of Kentucky Professor Buck Ryan claims that he was disciplined by administrators for singing the hit Beach Boys tune to his students.

“The University of Kentucky has punished me in a “sexual misconduct” case, in part, for singing a Beach Boys tune covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks,” Ryan writes.

Despite the university’s decision to force Ryan to endure a lengthy investigation over the singing of a Beach Boys song, he claims that administrators couldn’t find a single student who was offended by his use of the song in the classroom: “UK’s three-month investigation of my case revealed no student complaints. In my more than 30 years of college teaching, I have never faced a complaint of sexual misconduct from a student.”

Ryan used the song as part of an inaugural Education Week at a Chinese university as part of a UK program in a course that was entitled, “Storytelling: Exploring China’s Art and Culture.”

For my Chinese students, I sang a song to teach the many differences in Chinese and American culture. The Beach Boys riff was one of three takeoffs of popular songs (Sting, Wizard of Oz) that I sang in my closing remarks.

Although the university chose to subject Ryan to discipline for his “sexual misconduct,” he claims that most of the students who attended his infamous concert actually liked the use of the song: “A few of my top Chinese students attended the closing ceremonies, and they actually liked the song. One was impressed that I could use the names of Chinese places instead of the original American ones.”