Cal State Professor, Fired Over Raffle, Ordered Reinstated

A state board has ordered the reinstatement of a longtime Cal State Northridge professor who was fired last summer for allegedly offering students A grades in exchange for selling raffle tickets to raise money for his nonprofit foundation.

The state Personnel Board, in a closed session Tuesday, voted to suspend Prof. Eleazu S. Obinna for 90 days but ordered CSUN to give him back his job in the Pan-African studies department, said the board’s assistant executive officer, Walter Vaughn.

The board upheld the recommendation of Administrative Law Judge Byron Berry who, in a written opinion, said there was not enough evidence to support university allegations that during the spring, 1988, semester Obinna offered his students A grades for selling $100 worth of raffle tickets to benefit the United Crusade Foundation.

Berry wrote the opinion after listening to seven days of testimony during hearings held on the CSUN campus in November and February.

Berry said Wednesday he recommended that Obinna--a tenured, 17-year CSUN professor--be suspended for unprofessional conduct for “selling tickets in connection with a class.”

“It is not an appropriate class activity,” Berry said.

Obinna, 54, could not be reached for comment on the decision. University officials declined comment because the incident is a confidential personnel matter, spokeswoman Ann Salisbury said.

Also Wednesday, Deputy Atty. Gen. James Cordi said his office, which had begun an investigation of Obinna’s foundation, was no longer actively looking into the group. “The issue was the returning of the money and most of the money paid by people has been returned,” Cordi said.

Allegations Dismissed

The board, at Berry’s recommendation, also dismissed allegations that Obinna lied to superiors about class requirements for the upper-division course, “Field Work in the African-American Community,” to cover up the alleged grade-selling scheme.

Four CSUN students testified in November that they were told by Obinna and former part-time CSUN instructor Willie J. Bellamy that the only work required for the three-unit course was the sale of 20 $5 raffle tickets. The students said they were told that they did not have to attend class or complete any other assignments.

Bellamy, who was fired but did not appeal, denied telling students that they would receive “A” grades for selling the tickets. He is now a religious studies student at the school.

Obinna testified in February that he never discussed “sales for a grade.” He said students were asked if they would volunteer to sell tickets. To earn their grade, students were required to go on field trips, perform community service and write a term paper, he said.

Never Offered Grades

In addition to Obinna’s testimony, four of the 83 students enrolled in his class testified that they were never offered grades in exchange for selling raffle tickets.

Obinna’s attorney, Francis E. Smith, said in closing arguments that even if some students had concluded that they could earn a grade by selling the tickets, “the discipline sought is nevertheless unreasonable.”

Obinna’s colleagues had testified that they believed the Nigerian-born professor was fired because of his blunt and often outspoken criticism of university officials and policies.

Smith on Wednesday said that the board’s decision indicated “that at most there was a slight error in judgment” for encouraging the sale of the tickets by his students. The university prohibits the sale of raffle tickets by outside organizations.

Raffle Canceled

The raffle money was to have been used by the foundation to create a community center in Pacoima to assist black residents, Obinna said at the February hearing. The raffle, which offered a donated sports car as the prize, later was canceled and the money has been held in trust pending its return to ticket buyers, he said.

Students began complaining to university officials about the ticket-selling in April of last year, according to university memorandums filed in the case. The university on April 28 announced the cancellation of Obinna’s classes in connection with an alleged grade-selling scheme.

After a campus investigation, CSUN President James Cleary on May 23 sent a letter to Obinna telling the professor that he was being fired for “unprofessional conduct and dishonesty” for the alleged grade-selling scheme and then for denying it later when asked by his superiors. Obinna denied the charges and appealed the firing. He continued to draw his salary throughout the appeal hearings, university officials said.