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.
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