Investigation into OCC professor’s comments nears end

Deirdre Newman

OCC CAMPUS -- More than two months after Muslim students accused him

of harassment, an Orange Coast College professor continues to profess his

innocence while the drumbeat accusing the college’s officials of abuse of

power is growing louder.

Students first rallied to political science professor Kenneth

Hearlson’s side when he was put on administrative leave after allegedly

calling a Muslim student a terrorist during class on Sept. 18. Now, he

has the support of a national organization that advocates academic

freedom.

College administrators hired a lawyer from the Orange County

Department of Education to conduct an impartial investigation. While the

interview portion is finished, the investigator is still waiting for

another copy of the class tape from Hearlson, said John Renley,

vice-chancellor of human resources for the Coast Community College

District.

And the results of that investigation could come at any time, said Jim

Carnett, OCC’s director of media relations.

Hearlson, 57, is the first to admit that his lectures are

controversial -- designed to incite, provoke, even offend. And this is

not the first time he has offended Muslim students. He is currently

dealing with death threats from two groups of Muslim students -- one from

last spring and one since he has been put on leave, Hearlson said.

But he has the 1st Amendment on his side, according to various

organizations like the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education that

have zealously taken up his cause.

At issue, however, is not what Hearlson said during the fateful

September class, but how he said it and whether or not he directed his

comments toward particular students.

“The issue in Mr. Hearlson’s case has to do with alleged claims of

harassment, not the statements or the content of his curriculum,” said

Margaret Gratton, college president, who has found herself in the

uncomfortable glare of the national spotlight as the investigation drags

on.

The disputed exchange centered on a discussion Hearlson was leading

after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Mooath Saidi charges that

Hearlson accused him of committing heinous crimes.

“He started screaming and turns to me and points to me and said, ‘It

was you who drove two planes into the World Trade Center,”’ Saidi said.

Another Muslim student claimed that Hearlson called Saidi a terrorist.

However, a transcript of the class provided by a student shows no

indication of that exchange transpiring. What it does show is Hearlson

using the word “you” to describe an attack on Israel during a heated rant

about the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“They kicked the Arab butts, that’s a fact and what did you do, you

came back and attacked them again in 1973,” Hearlson said in the lecture.

When asked after the statement if the use of the word “you” referred

to a student, Hearlson said he was referring to Arab nations.

Hearlson adamantly maintains that he never pointed to any student or

called anyone a terrorist.

“I talked about the World Trade Center earlier, the horror of it, the

tragedy of it -- these terrorists killing 5,000 men, women and children,

but that was a generalized statement,” Hearlson said.

More than 100 OCC students have signed a petition calling for Hearlson

to be reinstated. And the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

is making a national issue of the case, accusing the college of trampling

Hearlson’s inalienable rights.

“They dismissed a professor without a hearing,” said Thor Halvorssen,

executive director. “Even if he was guilty of everything, you don’t

dismiss someone without a hearing. They might want to examine the

procedure of due process.”

Hearlson was taken out of the classroom after agreeing with the

written statements the Muslim students gave of the account, Renley said.

While acknowledging the investigation is taking a long time, Renley

maintains that it’s not a matter of just listening to tapes.

“What I’m concerned about is I would want to have all of our students

to be treated with respect . . . so the issue is more of what happened to

those students,” Renley said.

When the results of the investigation are finally made public, Saidi

said there is only one outcome he will be satisfied with.

“I don’t think [Hearlson] should be able to return to teach. I don’t

think any teacher should act that way in a classroom setting,” Saidi

said.

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .