Leilla Hamoud, 20, of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States is a student of Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem. One of her professors in the university is Dr. Cynthia Jan Villagomez, 61, of Winston-Salem.

WSSU is a historically black university. Villagomez works in the university as a languages department professor.

According to Hamoud, her class under Villagomez had a group final in which they had to write a paper and skit. The student said six hours before the presentation on December 14, 2022, the professor told her the paper was “completely wrong” so she need to make changes to it before turning it in.

But Hamoud refused to redo the paper and still came to the final to present with her group inside a classroom at WSSU’s Carolina Hall at around 8:30 a.m. that day. That was when Villagomez allegedly started “getting loud”, saying the paper was wrong and it was her class, so the student got “loud back”.

When Villagomez told Hamoud to leave the classroom, the student refused so the professor talked to another teacher in the hallway. Two police officers, one black and one white, arrived while the student and the professor were still arguing, both wanting apologies.

It was another employee, not Villagomez, who called the police, according to the university. The white police officer is Michael Rau.

The two police officers arrested Hamoud for misdemeanor disorderly conduct. She will appear in Forsyth District Court in Winston-Salem on January 25, 2023.