(Newswire.net — February 19, 2017) — An Orange Coast College student has been disciplined after secretly recording his professor’s in-class speech, during which she called the election of Donald Trump as an “an act of terrorism”.
College authorities suspended the student for the entire spring semester and demanded him to write a letter of apology to his instructor, as well as a three-page essay of the damages caused by the incident.
Freshman Caleb O’Neil filmed his college professor, Olga Perez Stable Cox, calling the election of Donald Trump “an act of terrorism” during her human sexuality class.
The video revealing Cox saying to students that the nation is divided was posted on You Tube, after which it was widely shared. “We have been assaulted. It is an act of terrorism”, Cox can be heard saying.
O’Neil later explained he filmed the teacher because she knew that he is a Trump supporter and he needed evidence in case he ends up being bullied during his exam.
“I pulled my phone out, because I was honestly scared that I would have repercussions with my grades because she knew I was a Trump supporter”, said O’Neil, 19, in his appeal, according to Orange County Register newspaper.
“I thought Olga [Perez Stable Cox] was a good teacher,” O’Neil wrote in his appeal.
Orange Coast College authorities suspended O’Neil “for a period of one full primary (fall/spring) semester in addition to summer term,” the letter of suspension read. Authorities also demanded him to write a “three page double space essay” apology to Cox, explaining his understanding of “the violation of the course syllabus,” and what he “thought would happen to the professor.”
The college also demanded O’Neil to explain in the essay why he decided to “to share this video with others”. He also received a letter from Interim Dean of Students, Victoria Lugo, who addressed his violation of the student code of conduct. “It is my hope that this experience will lead you [O’Neil] to truly think through your actions and the consequences of those actions when making decisions in the future”, she wrote in a letter to O’Neil.
O’Neil, however, decided to fight for his rights and filled an appeal on Wednesday, hiring a lawyer who said the sanctions are “excessive and discriminatory”, Orange County Register newspaper reported.
“This is victim blaming at its finest. OCC is making a clear statement that it doesn’t give a damn about its students and is completely in the pocket of the teachers union. We will continue to fight this and we will win”, Orange Coast College Republicans wrote in a letter of support to O’Neil.