Local News in Brief : Allegations Blamed on Upset Student

A former Cal State Northridge instructor testified Wednesday that allegations of grade selling in the Pan-African studies department were started by a female student who was spurned by the son of a professor accused in the scheme.

Willie Bellamy, one of two faculty members fired in the alleged scheme, also claimed that the student was employed by the university’s Police Department as an undercover agent to infiltrate the school’s Pan-African studies department. The fired professor was Eleazu Obinna.

Bellamy’s testimony came at a state personnel board hearing called by Obinna to appeal his firing in May. Obinna, a 17-year, tenured professor, has denied any wrongdoing.

Bellamy, 39, said the female student was despondent over a break-up with Obinna’s son. Neither the student nor Obinna’s son could be reached for comment on Bellamy’s claims.

Campus police denied that the student had ever been employed by the department.