When students browse the website Ratemyprofessors.com, they usually expect a gray area in the “hotness” rating. However, on Boston University Professor Lesley Yoder’s page, an extraordinarily red and flaming jalapeno pepper is present.
Yoder, a senior teaching fellow in French, was dubbed the fourth hottest professor in the country, according to Ratemyprofessors.com.
According to the site, Yoder has received a 4.6 out of a 5.0 overall hotness rating, represented by the pepper.
Yoder, who has received the only title on the “top lists” from BU, is graduating with her Ph.D. in May and has lectured in French and in the writing program.
The website is a good outlet for students to express themselves, as they usually don’t take class evaluations very seriously, Yoder said.
Yoder said it isn’t good for some professors who receive negative remarks on the site.
“I know some of them [professors] are really disheartened by comments, but then, on the other hand, I think most of them just look at it as kind of a joke,” Yoder said
She believes that the site can be helpful as professors can receive feedback directly from students, however, the legitimacy of the feedback is questionable.
“When I started teaching for the writing program, I was really curious what students had thought so I did go to the site just to see because I hadn’t gotten any feedback yet,” Yoder said.
“Eventually I got a comment, but it’s not really specific and you don’t know if a student was just in a crappy mood that day.”
In relation to being ranked high on the “hottness” top list, Yoder said, “I think it’s bizarre, I think it’s embarrassing. I think it’s proof that the site is messed up in its rating criteria.”
However, this was not the first time Yoder has been featured on something related to professors’ attractiveness. According a Boston Magazine article, Yoder’s students are reportedly “fond of her jeans.” She was also featured on a college fraternity website named “College OTR.”
“I can understand the fun aspect of it, and students say if someone is more attractive, which I don’t think I am,” Yoder said. “But if someone’s more attractive that just leads to more interest in the course. I get that, but in terms of how effective someone’s teaching actually is, it’s not the greatest indicator.”
Most students in Yoder’s class said they were aware of their professor’s rating, but didn’t take it too seriously.
“I wanted to take the class with her because her ratings were so good actually. I think the reviews she received are pretty correct,” said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Julia Gaule, who is in her French class.
“I did see that when I was looking at her page and laughed about it. I just think it’s funny to have a hotness rating on that website anyway,” Gaule said. “I remember talking about it with a guy in my class before it started and he was saying how excited he was to take the class with one of the hottest professor at the school. But it was more of just joking around. I haven’t heard any comments made about it now that class has started.”
“She is a great professor,” added CAS freshman Kiki Singh. “She is very willing to help outside of class.”
However, Singh said, “I am a girl so I wouldn’t necessarily call her ‘hot’ but yes, she is a very pretty lady.”
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