EDITORIAL

An incident in an Orange Coast College classroom two weeks ago has

raised a number of concerns and questions, ranging from the status of

racial relations on campus -- specifically between Jewish and Muslim

students -- to just how freely students and especially teachers can speak

in the classroom.

Everyone who was in political science professor Kenneth Hearlson’s

classroom on Tuesday, Sept. 18 agrees that the discussion was about this

month’s horrific terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the

Pentagon, assaults on America that most likely and unfortunately have

left more than 6,000 people dead.

Just how the discussion unfolded is a matter for debate.

Four Muslim students say Hearlson at one point directly called one of

them a terrorist, in their minds solely because of his religion. Others

say Hearlson was directing his comments to those on the four planes

suspected of these heinous acts.

The students defending Hearlson -- they are circulating a petition to

have him reinstated -- explain and acknowledge that he has an unorthodox

teaching style, one that pushes the students to think critically by

challenging them, frequently dramatically and to extremes.

It is Hearlson’s right to teach how he believes students will best

learn. This “academic freedom” and the First Amendment on which it is

based are sacrosanct tenets of our country. Freedom of speech and the

freedom of a professor to talk openly and without fear in the classroom

need to be defended vigorously and completely.

But the First Amendment is not without its necessary limits. The

familiar example of this is that no one is free to yell, “Fire!” in a

crowded theater. The harm it could do to others far outweighs the

unrestricted right to yell anything at all.

Hearlson’s comments fall into the same category. With 200 or so

students in the classroom, the inflammatory comments he made potentially

could have set in motion at least one student’s intent to harm the

Muslims in the class. Hearlson, and all professors, need to understand

the possible effects of what they say. In Hearlson’s case, when he

teaches so dramatically, he should be particularly careful of what is

said and how it could be interpreted.

As a result of this class, Hearlson has been placed on temporary leave

while the administration investigates the incident. He could either be

brought back to the classroom or fired.

OCC officials need to be swift and just in their handling of this

case, and it is to their credit that they have retained an attorney from

the Orange County Department of Education to handle the job.

Separately, it will also be up to the administration to determine if

there are problems between different groups of students that need to be

addressed and fixed immediately.