Letter to the Editor

On Jan. 13, the Daily Pilot published a column by Margaret Gratton,

president of Orange Coast College, justifying the college

administration’s handling of accusations made by several Muslim students

against a professor at OCC. Readers will recall that the political

science professor, Ken Hearlson, was placed on paid administrative leave

while the charges were investigated by outside legal counsel.

As president of the faculty union in the Coast Community College

District, I normally do not make public comments about personnel

situations in which the union is involved. However, in Hearlson’s

situation, the OCC administration has “gone public” in an unprecedented

manner. Because Gratton’s recent column does not portray the

administration’s actions in a balanced and accurate manner, I am writing

this response.

Contrary to Gratton’s contention, placing a faculty member on paid

administrative leave is not “a routine practice” when students have

registered complaints against an instructor. Gratton implies that the

leave was intended to protect Hearlson from potential harm. Yet when

other instructors have feared actual physical assault in the past, the

administration has rarely acted so decisively or protectively.

To many faculty members, Hearlson’s paid suspension -- prior to the

conduct of any investigation -- carried an implication of presumed guilt.

The administration’s knee-jerk reaction damaged Hearlson’s reputation

among his colleagues, among the OCC student body at large and in the

community. Hearlson was suspended without an opportunity to respond to

the students’ charges and without an investigation. It is this denial of

fair process that has upset so many faculty members.

The collective bargaining contract does not address or limit the

administration’s right to place a faculty member on administrative leave.

However, it does limit the administration’s right to issue a written

reprimand. Gratton’s column does not mention it, but a letter [Hearlson

and the teachers union say is a] reprimand has been placed in Hearlson’s

personnel file -- in spite of the outside investigator’s conclusion that

the student allegations were “primarily unsubstantiated.” This action

does violate the contract, and the union is representing Hearlson in a

grievance on that ground.

It is true, as Gratton states, that “Freedom, responsibility and

respect are essential principles for good teaching and learning.”

However, both students and instructors must remember that we live in an

extraordinarily diverse society in which cultures collide and frictions

are bound to occur. Both instructors and students must respect that

cultural diversity and find a way.

* KRISTINA BRUNING is the president of Coast Federation of Educators,

America Federation of Teachers Local 1911.