Over the weekend, news broke that a well-regarded professor who taught chemistry at New York University had been fired after students complained about their grades, his teaching, and the support they received during the pandemic. The story has garnered wide attention because it seems to have a little something for everyone—students taking over the education system, the chaos of our not-quite-post-COVID world, and more.

Largely left out of the discussion is the role of the subject matter of the course at issue: organic chemistry, which has an almost mythical status as one of the most difficult classes in undergraduate science education. For those willing to wade past all the other issues raised, the events raise awkward questions about what we expect from science education and how best to deliver it.

But to get to those questions, we’ll first have to wade through all the additional issues raised by the firing.