Teacher nomination raises debate

Deirdre Newman

OCC CAMPUS -- Political science professor Kenneth Hearlson continues

to be a lightning rod for the debate over academic freedom, with his

nomination this week for Faculty Member of the Year now polarizing the

campus.

Hearlson was nominated by history professor Susan Smith, who said the

way Hearlson was treated by the administration when he was accused of

harassing a group of Muslim students opened an important conversation on

the issue of academic freedom.

Hearlson was put on paid administrative leave last semester pending

an independent investigation into the charges. He eventually was cleared

of most of the charges.

Not all of the college’s faculty believe the award is the way to make

Hearlson’s case a referendum on freedom in the classroom.

“I don’t think he opened up anything about academic freedom,” said

English professor Gary Hoffman. “I think he opened up issues about

classroom behavior that have nothing to do with academic freedom.”

Hearlson is one of 12 professors nominated by his peers and students.

The winner will be announced March 14.

Smith said part of the reason she nominated Hearlson was in response

to a petition that was signed by at least 25 professors stating that

Hearlson “exercised poor judgment in class, going beyond ‘shock teaching’

to create a hostile environment in class.”

“I think it’s very dangerous when something as significant as a

professor being yanked out of a classroom for three months, that the

faculty not eat its own,” Smith said.

But Hoffman, who signed the petition, said Hearlson crossed the line

between provocative teaching and inappropriate classroom behavior.

In response, Hoffman has drafted a set of guidelines suggesting

appropriate behavior, including how to be provocatively correct:

“Provocation simply for the sake of provocation is counterproductive and

insulting. Instructors need to be able to explain how their provocative

questions and materials help students gain knowledge and insight required

by the course content.”

Irini Vallera-Rickerson, an art history professor who won Faculty

Member of the Year in 1994, said Hearlson would not be her first choice

for the award because she thinks there are other candidates who have done

more outside the classroom.

“The Faculty Member of the Year goes with a lot of responsibility --

you have to be a fantastic professor, have to be caring about your

students, and you need to be doing excess things besides your teaching,

like major community service,” Vallera-Rickerson said.

Hearlson is taking a low-key approach to the situation. He originally

told Smith he did not want to participate in the competition but relented

when she brought up the issue of academic freedom.

“I think not so much the nomination, but I believe the part of looking

at speech codes for faculty is a big part,” Hearlson said. “It would be

an honor [to win], but I didn’t seek it out.”