Hundreds of students walked out of a University of Guelph class in protest of comments the professor had made toward a student.

It happened Monday night, at an anthropology class which was being run by Edward Hedican in place of the course’s usual professor.

Students say Hedican singled out a student who was chewing gum near the back of the class. The student had an educational assistant with him, and told Hedican that he had clinically diagnosed anxiety and found chewing gum helped him deal with it. Other students say Hedican referred to the EA as a “handler” who was needed “to control” the student in question.

“You could tell that the student was visibly upset by how the professor was handling it,” student Shelby Hager said in an interview.

Another student, Sophia Pace, says Hedican asked the EA if the student was meant to be in the class.

“(He said) it’s very unlikely that he would be enrolled in the class,” Pace said.

According to students’ accounts of the class, one student then got up from her seat and said she wouldn’t stay in a class while a professor “bullied” a student. She received a standing ovation, and hundreds of other students ended up following her out the door.

Officials with the university say they have placed a professor on leave while they investigate what they call “inappropriate comments” about a student and an educational assistant.

“The University of Guelph is a community whose members respect and care about one another,” Charlotte Yates, the school’s provost and vice-president of academic affairs, said in a press release.

“Although I believe this was an isolated incident, we will remain vigilant to ensure openness, respect and inclusion at U of G.”

Hedican did not respond to an interview request from CTV News before this story was published.

With reporting by Natalie van Rooy