Kerri Dunn
Any questions?
Posted on 03/21/2004 2:33:50 PM PST by Bullish
College to investigate vandalism
By JASON NEWELL and MIRA KATZ STAFF WRITERS
CLAREMONT - A Claremont McKenna College psychology professor was placed on a temporary paid leave of absence while the college investigates whether she vandalized her own car and reported it as a hate crime, according to a statement released Saturday by the college president.
"Such an investigation and review is important and necessary prior to taking any further personnel action because Professor (Kerri) Dunn denies any involvement in this incident and the College is not aware of the full details of the police investigation," Pamela Gann's statement read.
Other faculty members have been brought in to teach Dunn's classes "for so long as necessary," Gann's release added.
Meanwhile, as students return this week from spring break, professors and administrators at the Claremont Colleges are grappling with how to handle the fallout of an apparent hate crime that now looks to have been a hoax.
Known to respond abruptly and passionately to any perception of social injustice, the five major campuses canceled classes for a day of rallies and teach-ins after Dunn's car was vandalized and covered with hateful grafitti March 9.
Calling the vandalism an act of terrorism, Dunn drew an outpouring of support from students, who responded with lively speeches and commitments to champion diversity.
But Wednesday's stunning claim by investigators that Dunn staged the hate crime - smashing the windows, slitting the tires and spray-painting racial slurs on the car herself - has some people reeling.
"I think it is very devastating news," said Pitzer College Professor Hal Fairchild. "It is the boy who cried wolf syndrome. The very legitimate concerns people have about diversity and things of that nature are lessened by the possible fraudulent act by professor Dunn."
Some professors say the incident could set back their efforts, fueling the side of students who disagree that hate and intolerance are problems on campus.
Others maintain the steps taken after the initial discovery of the car were positive, and hope students will recognize that a climate hostile to diversity exists - regardless of whether the charges against Dunn are true.
"The spirit of what has been going on in terms of dialogues and discussions needs to continue," said Jose Calderon, professor of sociology and Chicano studies at Pitzer College.
Even before the supposed hate crime, students at the colleges - known for strong and sudden reactions to appearances of social wrongs - had been upset by a string of racially charged incidents.
A cross set on fire at Harvey Mudd College in January - later determined to have been the work of drunken students who claimed they didn't realize the racial significance of the action - triggered protests and debates.
Further outcry came last month when a racial slur against blacks was scrawled on a calendar next to a picture of George Washington Carver.
The activism in the student body goes back years.
After the controversial shooting of a black motorist by Claremont police during a routine traffic stop in 1999, campus groups sprung to action.
Professors and students staged weekly protests that grew louder when the two officers who shot Irvin Landrum Jr., 18, were cleared of any wrongdoing, and were later given employee-of-the-year awards.
Landrum supporters, who maintain the account that Landrum aimed and fired a gun at police is false, continued to blast the city's handling of the event through last year, when the employee awards were rescinded.
In 1997, when the City Council in Claremont-neighboring Pomona passed an ordinance to fine day laborers $1,000 and six months in jail for seeking work on street corners, students packed City Hall in protest.
Their efforts eventually attracted $50,000 to start the Pomona Day Labor Center, where workers could gather to find employment.
A few years ago, when campus cafeteria workers voiced contractual concerns, a group of students took their case before administrators and eventually helped to get the employees unionized.
In the early 1990s, when farmworkers claiming unfair treatment led a boycott against grapes, students banded together to stop the fruit from being served on campus.
Later, the same happened again, this time with strawberries.
"You have generations of activism," said Phyllis Jackson, professor of art history at Pomona College. "For some students who have come to the Claremont Colleges, life is not the way they want it to be, and they realize you have to do something to change it."
Now, students who left for spring break determined to turn the "pro-diversity, anti-hate" momentum into a long-term movement may return without some of that resolve, some fear.
Stephen Wessler, director of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence at the University of Southern Maine, said he has seen hate crimes faked before, but very rarely - he deals with about one highly visible hoax a year.
"The unfortunate thing that can happen is it can divert attention from looking at the real issue of racially motivated bias, gender-motivated bias, religiously motivated bias," said Wessler, an attorney and nationally recognized expert on on-campus hate.
Whether the car vandalism is a hate crime or not, it's still safe to say racism exists on the Claremont campuses, because racism exists on every campus, he said.
"What is extremely prevalent at every college campus I've been at - where in the country it doesn't matter - is the widespread use of language and degrading jokes," Wessler said. "The academic exclusivity of the campus doesn't seem to make any difference on the bias of the campus."
Racial problems often occur on college campuses because of their diverse nature, said Debra Humphreys, spokeswoman for the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Because students entering college typically come from an environment dominated by one ethnic or socioeconomic group, a college campus is typically the most diverse environment they've ever encountered, she said.
More efforts have been made to encourage diversity-friendly climates during the last decade, but much work remains, she said.
"While a lot of progress has been made, I don't think anyone would say college campuses are free of acts of hatred," she said.
Wessler said the goal for administrators after a high-profile act of hate is to seize the opportunity to create focused dialogue.
His organization encourages schools to look at their orientation program, examine the number of courses that deal with diversity and train student leaders to make it clear to other students that slurs and defamatory language will not be tolerated.
"Most campuses stay focused on this issue for somewhere between two weeks and six weeks, and then it's over," he said. "The question for colleges is to decide whether this issue is going to be talked about when the next school year rolls around."
Jason Newell can be reached by e-mail at jason.newell@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9338.
Mira Katz can be reached by e-mail at mira.katz@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8551.
If it has already been posted it didn't come up on a search of this the original title.
Oh, yeah, that's the "real issue," all right.
Some professors say the incident could set back their efforts ... Others maintain the steps taken after the initial discovery of the car were positive, and hope students will recognize that a climate hostile to diversity exists - regardless of whether the charges against Dunn are true. "The spirit of what has been going on in terms of dialogues and discussions needs to continue," said Jose Calderon, professor of sociology and Chicano studies ...
Groan.
I know. You could choke a horse with their huge double standard.
If the concerns were so very legitmate one wonders why the good professor saw the need to manufacture them?
Only Republicans are capable of hate crimes.
Everyone else gets a pass for hating the "haters".
Could this statement be any sillier?
When a black student pins a note to his door purportedly from the KKK....When a black woman carves initials on her stomach herself and pretends it was done by a gang of white men...when a Latina lesbian does a similar thing and blames a gang of "homophobes"...and now this professorial loon...True hate crimes occured in each case.
The 'hater' is the person who staged the crime scene, and the victims are the people who, without any evidence, are blamed as the perpetrators : In most cases, pretty much any white person in the vicinity...Or any straight person, ditto...And so forth.
That's putting it too kindly. This was a calculated stunt designed to incite fear and rage. Maybe it's a form of Munchausen's syndrome.
Just because the horse is dead, it doesn't mean Horse-Beater's Union members should lose their jobs.
This lying professor should be charged the full cost of running those five major campuses for a day.
The person who said this obviously does not understand the "Boy who cried wolf" thing.
Any questions?
I change my mind. But not only is this woman NUTS, so is the administration who shut down the entire system for a day so that everyone could gather for a catharsis. If the guilty one were one of us, we'd be in the slammer.
I should be so lucky.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.