Student to Be Penalized for Calling Woman an Obscenity

In a case that sparked campus debate on the question of free speech versus responsible behavior, a peer review board at Occidental College has ordered disciplinary penalties against a student who uttered an obscenity during an argument with a student dorm supervisor.

Tim Usher, a junior, was ordered to perform 30 hours of community service under the supervision of the dean of students’ office. Usher also was barred from visiting the residence hall where the verbal encounter took place for the rest of the semester.

He has been placed on “disciplinary probation” for the rest of his time at Occidental, according to a letter from campus officials.

At issue was a confrontation last fall between Usher and a female dorm supervisor who refused to allow him to enter a locked dorm because he did not have a prior invitation from a dorm resident, as campus policy requires.

Usher called the dorm supervisor a four-letter word for vagina that most women regard as particularly offensive.

In February, a peer review board appointed by the dean of students’ office found Usher guilty of verbal abuse and disorderly conduct and suspended him for the rest of the semester. The ruling triggered objections from numerous factions of the Occidental student body, some of whom accused the peer review board of punishing Usher merely because he was judged “politically incorrect.”

Usher appealed the ruling to the dean of students, who ordered the case heard again by another peer review board. The second board found Usher guilty of the same allegations but decided not to suspend him.

The penalties were the result of prior verbal confrontations involving Usher at Occidental, as well as the epithet in question, campus authorities said.

The requirement that Usher perform community service was selected in the hope that “you develop greater sensitivity to the feeling of others,” the letter written by campus officials said.

Usher said Wednesday that he plans to appeal the second peer review board’s ruling to the college president’s office.