The video was posted by TikTok user @josselynnguerrero and recounts an encounter with a professor identified in the comments as Andrei Andreev, a lecturer in the Finance Department at SDSU's Fowler College of Business. SDSU's current faculty directory confirms Andreev is a lecturer in the university's Finance Department.
According to the student's Spanish-language account, she was attending her finance class when Andreev began calling out "hey you" toward her. She said she initially did not realize the professor was addressing her before he approached her, questioned whether she was enrolled in the class and repeatedly demanded her name.
The student alleges that she gave Andreev her name but declined to continue repeating it after he asked several more times. According to her account, Andreev then ordered her to leave the classroom and, when she remained, called SDSU Police.
The student claims Andreev told police that she was yelling and causing a disturbance, a characterization she disputes. According to the account circulating among SDSU students, other students present began saying that was not true while the professor was contacting police.
SanDiegoVille has not independently verified all of the circumstances leading up to the confrontation or what Andreev communicated to police. The social media video represents the student's account of what occurred.
San Diego State University has since confirmed that it is aware of concerns raised about the incident and is reviewing them through the university's administrative processes. The university also confirmed that no student was detained or arrested and said the designated department chair has been in direct contact with students regarding their concerns.
"Generally speaking, the university cannot comment on specific personnel matters due to employee privacy laws," SDSU Senior Director of Media Relations and Deputy Chief Communications Officer Cory Marshall told SanDiegoVille. "However, the university can confirm that we are aware of concerns raised regarding this incident and are reviewing them through the university's administrative processes, and are taking appropriate action."
"The university is deeply committed to maintaining a safe, respectful and supportive learning environment for all students," Marshall continued.
While SDSU declined to discuss any specific personnel matter involving Andreev, the university provided additional clarification about the student's interaction with campus authorities, confirming that "no student was detained or arrested." SDSU also said "the designated department chair has been in touch with students directly to address their concerns."
The controversy quickly spread beyond TikTok to Reddit, where a post about the incident summarized the allegations and asked whether other students were present during the class. The discussion generated more than 100 upvotes and numerous comments, including several from people claiming to have firsthand knowledge of Andreev's classes.
One question raised in the discussion was whether the student had arrived late. A Reddit commenter identified by the platform as verified SDSU faculty questioned whether she might have entered midway through the lecture, noting that professors sometimes need to determine whether someone entering a classroom belongs in the class. The commenter also cautioned that there could be additional context surrounding the escalation.
Another commenter, however, claimed to have personally witnessed the encounter and disputed that possibility.
"She had been there the whole time I saw the whole thing," the commenter wrote, alleging that the professor began singling out the student. After receiving that response, the commenter identified as faculty acknowledged the clarification that the student had reportedly been present since the beginning of the scheduled class.
Because Reddit accounts are generally anonymous, SanDiegoVille has not independently authenticated the identity of that purported witness or confirmed the person's enrollment in the class.
Another Reddit commenter claimed to currently be in one of Andreev's classes and alleged that the professor had called police on a male student in a separate incident. "In my class he called it on a male student but apparently he called it on someone else in a different class as well," the commenter wrote. That allegation has not been independently verified, and it remains unclear whether there were multiple recent calls to SDSU Police involving Andreev's classes.
According to the Reddit post summarizing the TikTok, the controversy continued after the lecture ended. The post claims that more than a dozen students who witnessed the interaction went directly to the dean's office to support the student and report what had occurred.
The post further alleges that those students were told that administrators "can't do anything." SDSU did not specifically confirm or deny that account, although the university said the designated department chair has since been in direct contact with students to address their concerns.
Andreev has been associated with SDSU for many years. The university's archived 2009-2010 General Catalog lists "Andreev, Andrei, M.B.A., Finance" among its Business Administration faculty, establishing his presence at SDSU by at least the 2009-2010 academic year.
SDSU's current Fowler College of Business directory identifies Andreev as a Finance Department lecturer. The university's Finance Department offers undergraduate programs in finance, financial services and real estate, along with several graduate programs and specializations.
The social media controversy has also spilled dramatically onto Andreev's Rate My Professors page. As of September 24, the page lists him with an overall quality rating of 2.0 out of 5 based on 214 student ratings, with only 21 percent saying they would take him again and an overall difficulty rating of 3.9 out of 5. Of the 214 ratings, 124 give Andreev the site's lowest one-star rating.
Those numbers, however, require important context. Andreev's page appears to have been flooded with reviews after the classroom controversy began circulating, with numerous ratings posted between September 22 and September 24 explicitly mentioning police being called on students.
One September 23 review states, "if he doesn't like you he'll call the cops on you," while another posted that day alleges that the reviewer dropped the class after the professor called police on a student. Another review described a classroom environment that became tense enough that police were called. Those anonymous accounts cannot be independently authenticated and should not be regarded as separate confirmation of the viral allegations.
Other reviews posted during the same period called for Andreev to be removed from the classroom and accused him of disrespecting or targeting students. Because the reviews appeared contemporaneously with the viral controversy, it is impossible to determine from the website alone how many were submitted by actual students with firsthand experience and how many may have been prompted by the social media attention.
Criticism of Andreev on the website nevertheless clearly predates this week's controversy. A September 16 review called him "very rude" and described the learning environment as neither inviting nor safe, while another review posted the same day alleged students were afraid to ask questions because of his demeanor.
A September 3 review similarly described Andreev as unnecessarily mean and said students were scared to ask him questions. Student assessments have not been universally negative, however, as another September 3 reviewer awarded him five stars and described the course material as well organized, praising the balance between theory and real-life applications.
Rate My Professors is an anonymous, self-selected review platform, and its ratings are not independently verified assessments of faculty performance. The reviews are therefore useful as evidence of online student sentiment but do not establish whether specific allegations against Andreev are true.
The Reddit discussion likewise contains strongly negative accounts from people claiming to be current or former students, but those accounts are also largely anonymous. At least one participant in the discussion urged caution and questioned whether important context surrounding the confrontation was missing.
What potentially distinguishes the latest controversy from anonymous professor reviews is that the underlying encounter involves a reported campus police response and an administrative process that SDSU has now acknowledged. Multiple students claim to have witnessed the confrontation, and a group of students allegedly approached university administrators afterward.
SDSU's response provides official confirmation that university administrators are reviewing concerns arising from the incident. The university did not disclose the nature or scope of that review, however, and did not elaborate on what it meant when it said it was "taking appropriate action."
Among the unanswered questions are what caused Andreev to initially confront the student, what information he provided when requesting police assistance, whether SDSU Police generated an incident report and the precise nature of the university's administrative review.
There is also the separate allegation that police were summoned during another recent encounter involving a different student. SDSU did not address SanDiegoVille's question about whether Andreev has requested SDSU Police assistance involving other students during the current semester.
SanDiegoVille has contacted Andreev directly and provided him an opportunity to respond to the student's allegations and explain what led him to request police assistance. No response had been received as of publication.
SDSU says its review of concerns surrounding the incident is proceeding through the university's administrative processes. SanDiegoVille will update this story if Andreev responds or additional information becomes available regarding the police response or university review.
One question raised in the discussion was whether the student had arrived late. A Reddit commenter identified by the platform as verified SDSU faculty questioned whether she might have entered midway through the lecture, noting that professors sometimes need to determine whether someone entering a classroom belongs in the class. The commenter also cautioned that there could be additional context surrounding the escalation.
Another commenter, however, claimed to have personally witnessed the encounter and disputed that possibility.
"She had been there the whole time I saw the whole thing," the commenter wrote, alleging that the professor began singling out the student. After receiving that response, the commenter identified as faculty acknowledged the clarification that the student had reportedly been present since the beginning of the scheduled class.
Because Reddit accounts are generally anonymous, SanDiegoVille has not independently authenticated the identity of that purported witness or confirmed the person's enrollment in the class.
Another Reddit commenter claimed to currently be in one of Andreev's classes and alleged that the professor had called police on a male student in a separate incident. "In my class he called it on a male student but apparently he called it on someone else in a different class as well," the commenter wrote. That allegation has not been independently verified, and it remains unclear whether there were multiple recent calls to SDSU Police involving Andreev's classes.
According to the Reddit post summarizing the TikTok, the controversy continued after the lecture ended. The post claims that more than a dozen students who witnessed the interaction went directly to the dean's office to support the student and report what had occurred.
The post further alleges that those students were told that administrators "can't do anything." SDSU did not specifically confirm or deny that account, although the university said the designated department chair has since been in direct contact with students to address their concerns.
Andreev has been associated with SDSU for many years. The university's archived 2009-2010 General Catalog lists "Andreev, Andrei, M.B.A., Finance" among its Business Administration faculty, establishing his presence at SDSU by at least the 2009-2010 academic year.
SDSU's current Fowler College of Business directory identifies Andreev as a Finance Department lecturer. The university's Finance Department offers undergraduate programs in finance, financial services and real estate, along with several graduate programs and specializations.
The social media controversy has also spilled dramatically onto Andreev's Rate My Professors page. As of September 24, the page lists him with an overall quality rating of 2.0 out of 5 based on 214 student ratings, with only 21 percent saying they would take him again and an overall difficulty rating of 3.9 out of 5. Of the 214 ratings, 124 give Andreev the site's lowest one-star rating.
Those numbers, however, require important context. Andreev's page appears to have been flooded with reviews after the classroom controversy began circulating, with numerous ratings posted between September 22 and September 24 explicitly mentioning police being called on students.
One September 23 review states, "if he doesn't like you he'll call the cops on you," while another posted that day alleges that the reviewer dropped the class after the professor called police on a student. Another review described a classroom environment that became tense enough that police were called. Those anonymous accounts cannot be independently authenticated and should not be regarded as separate confirmation of the viral allegations.
Other reviews posted during the same period called for Andreev to be removed from the classroom and accused him of disrespecting or targeting students. Because the reviews appeared contemporaneously with the viral controversy, it is impossible to determine from the website alone how many were submitted by actual students with firsthand experience and how many may have been prompted by the social media attention.
Criticism of Andreev on the website nevertheless clearly predates this week's controversy. A September 16 review called him "very rude" and described the learning environment as neither inviting nor safe, while another review posted the same day alleged students were afraid to ask questions because of his demeanor.
A September 3 review similarly described Andreev as unnecessarily mean and said students were scared to ask him questions. Student assessments have not been universally negative, however, as another September 3 reviewer awarded him five stars and described the course material as well organized, praising the balance between theory and real-life applications.
Rate My Professors is an anonymous, self-selected review platform, and its ratings are not independently verified assessments of faculty performance. The reviews are therefore useful as evidence of online student sentiment but do not establish whether specific allegations against Andreev are true.
The Reddit discussion likewise contains strongly negative accounts from people claiming to be current or former students, but those accounts are also largely anonymous. At least one participant in the discussion urged caution and questioned whether important context surrounding the confrontation was missing.
What potentially distinguishes the latest controversy from anonymous professor reviews is that the underlying encounter involves a reported campus police response and an administrative process that SDSU has now acknowledged. Multiple students claim to have witnessed the confrontation, and a group of students allegedly approached university administrators afterward.
SDSU's response provides official confirmation that university administrators are reviewing concerns arising from the incident. The university did not disclose the nature or scope of that review, however, and did not elaborate on what it meant when it said it was "taking appropriate action."
Among the unanswered questions are what caused Andreev to initially confront the student, what information he provided when requesting police assistance, whether SDSU Police generated an incident report and the precise nature of the university's administrative review.
There is also the separate allegation that police were summoned during another recent encounter involving a different student. SDSU did not address SanDiegoVille's question about whether Andreev has requested SDSU Police assistance involving other students during the current semester.
SanDiegoVille has contacted Andreev directly and provided him an opportunity to respond to the student's allegations and explain what led him to request police assistance. No response had been received as of publication.
SDSU says its review of concerns surrounding the incident is proceeding through the university's administrative processes. SanDiegoVille will update this story if Andreev responds or additional information becomes available regarding the police response or university review.
Originally published on September 25, 2026.
