But Paretzky said Vaux’s response was inappropriate.

“His response [to our request for an apology] was really disillusioning,” Paretzky said. “He was hesitant, then he said, ‘What exactly would you like me to say?’ I don’t know if I’m ready to e-mail him. That was pretty dismissive and condescending.”

Vaux’s teaching fellow, Claire L. Bowern, said it was purely coincidental that the Kuumba performance took place before the Ebonics lecture.

“It happened that the Kuumba advertisement coincided with the part of the course that deals with Ebonics,” she said. “End of link. There’s a lecture on Ebonics in ‘Knowledge of Language’ because it’s a topic that interests students and it’s an opportunity to show that Ebonics is not some freaky slang but a regular language with interesting characteristics.”

Students in the class were divided over the incident.

Jordan B. L. Smith ’06 said he did not remember being offended by Vaux’s comment.

“When he talked about Ebonics, one of the big points he tried to make is it’s as bona fide a language as standard English,” he added.

But another student said she felt differently.

“I remember him saying it segued well into our discussion of Ebonics. I remember thinking, ‘Is that relevant?’” Lisa J. Kennelly ’06 said.

Vaux, generally regarded as popular with students, was informed by the linguistics department Monday night that he was not being put up for tenure. He plans to file a grievance with the FAS Office of Academic Affairs.

—Staff writer Dan Rosenheck can be reached at rosenhec@fas.harvard.edu.