Note: The information reported in this piece has not been confirmed by either party involved, the university, or law authorities. This article is meant to serve as a summary of the drama surrounding the alledged relationship and a breakdown of the information that went viral, not as an official report.
On Oct. 23, several photos went viral on social media of computer science professor Travis Meade with one of his teaching assistants, unofficially referred to as the “Hello Kitty Girl.” According to Distractify, Meade was fired shortly before this news circulated, causing his students to wonder why their professor was replaced halfway through the semester. The photos spread like wildfire within the UCF community, but more surprisingly, the story went viral on TikTok and Reddit.
The images first appeared on the UCF subreddit with allegations that the professor was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with one of his TAs. The thread has since been deleted, but not before the information blew up.
Even though the Reddit post was deleted, the photos, due to their virality, found their way to an Imgur album. A tweet from X-user @starsleeps, who said they are a UCF alumnus, shows two pictures from the album. One photo depicts the professor and TA walking around campus together and the other shows the infamous Hello Kitty colorings on his office door.
I was shocked to see a video on my TikTok ForYouPage that said, “Me, a 30-year-old woman in Chicago fully invested in the UCF professor/Hello Kitty Girl drama.” The video had over one million views, and the tweet referenced earlier had reached over 11 million views. Professors get fired all the time, but it’s clear that the details of this situation contributed to its popularity nationwide.
The majority of the photos found of the pair include them walking around campus together. While nothing is inherently alarming about these pictures, the colorings on Meade’s office door have drawn the most attention.
The three colored-in Hello Kitty prints taped on the professor’s door appear to be straight out of a coloring book, with two containing interesting writing on them. One on the bottom left of his office door read, “Happy 43st birthday daddie.” Another one reads, “I love you,” with the “e” written backward.
The simple grammar and spelling errors have led many people on the Internet to believe this is a sort of DDLG (Dom Daddy Little Girl) relationship, which adds a layer to the already inappropriate dynamic of a professor dating one of his TAs. Interestingly, Meade put these condemning pieces of evidence on his office door despite UCF policy prohibiting amorous relationships between students and faculty.
Although Meade has been fired, the status of his TA is currently unclear. It’s rumored that she recently claimed on a UCF Discord server that they never dated, and she is engaged to someone else.
Regardless of how inappropriate people perceive this relationship, it’s gone viral. A UCF student and his girlfriend even dressed up as the scandalous couple for Halloween.
As UCF students, we never expected our little scandal to create such a buzz, but it’s interesting to ponder why it garnered the attention it did!