It's business as usual in Ward's class

Everything was business as usual yesterday in room 1206 of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall as Marketing Professor Scott Ward taught his first class following his arrest Friday night. Ward, who was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from young boys and is out on $50,000 bail, resumed lecturing yesterday as if nothing had happened. But outside the classroom, intrigued passersby couldn't help but try to catch a glimpse of him. "Is that him? Oh, my God," one interested student said as she walked past the classroom window. Although no other professors were available for comment, many of Ward's students had positive things to say about their professor, who has taught at the Wharton School since 1979. "He's an excellent teacher," said John Steigerward, a first-year Wharton graduate student. "Today's class wasn't any different from last week." Ward himself would not agree to an interview, but said, "I have no comment other than I am innocent of these charges and will be vindicated." Students knew about Ward's academic accomplishments and one said, "he's won about six teaching awards; that alone makes him an amazing professor." "He's tremendous, he was totally professional today," said first-year Wharton graduate student Marcus Linden. "His dealings are his dealings and I think he's doing a great job." Most of the students in Ward's Marketing 621 class seemed to feel that way. Many refused to comment, saying Ward's personal life was none of their business. Many felt whatever charges were pending against their professor would not affect his teaching and expressed hope that he would continue to teach throughout the semester. "It's none of our business what he does in his spare time as long as he teaches us what we need to know," said one student. Rumors circulated that Ward would not be teaching classes this week, but students felt that his appearance in class was a positive sign. "If he wasn't confident that he was innocent, he wouldn't be here teaching," first-year Wharton graduate student Sameer Mitha said. According to the Marketing Department, a decision has not been made regarding whether or not Ward will continue teaching this semester. "He's here today and that's all we can say," a member of the office staff said. Although Ward's classes seemed to by undisturbed by this weekend's activities, Wharton has felt some disruptions in the past two days. The office has been inundated with phone calls regarding Ward since the details of his arrest became public. Ward is currently teaching two classes this semester, three sections of Marketing 621, which is a core class for first year graduate students, and one section of Marketing 890, a seminar. "He was very professional and today's class was exciting," Mitha said. "I didn't believe it, just from my experience in class. It doesn't seem like he would do that."

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