Obstructed Views

On a campus already strained by deep tensions, professors at Irvine Valley College are in an uproar over a new policy that they say threatens the time-honored practice of decorating office doors and windows with the cartoons, clippings and fliers that reflect their humor and passions.

Faculty representatives are threatening legal action over a memo teachers received last week telling them to remove any posters or signs they have displayed on their office windows or external doors.

The college president, Raghu P. Mathur, says he is seeking only to protect the school from unsightly clutter.

But professors allege the policy is a ploy to stifle their ongoing criticism of the school’s leadership.

“This is such an absurd attack on the academic environment,” said political science professor Traci Fahimi.

Writing professor Andrew Tonkavich, who advises the student liberties club, says the restrictions are “more representative of a homeowners association than a vibrant community college.”

Like at many college campuses, the hallways and windows of Irvine Valley College are a panoply of personal expression.

Signs on professors’ doors and windows range from cartoons, newspaper clippings and announcements about grades and scholarships to sharp blows at Mathur. In one window, which faces the campus and can be seen from a distance, large signs proclaim “Mathur Must Go” and “Raghu Must Resign.”

And now, at least a dozen professors have added to their displays a large statement accusing district and school officials of “engaging in the political doublespeak common to totalitarian leaders--who want to brainwash the populace into accepting assaults on civil liberties and personal freedoms.” To that statement, professors have signed their names.

Mathur has been the target of faculty dissent since he took the school’s helm in 1997. Even his selection was a matter of contention; he was chosen president on a 4-3 vote by the South Orange County Community College District’s board of directors.

In the aftermath of a blistering accreditation report that criticized the process leading to Mathur’s appointment, the academic Senate--the faculty’s elected leadership--called for his removal in February.

Mathur denies that the policy memo, which was issued by the school’s new vice president of student services, Armando Ruiz, under his direction, was meant to silence his critics.

“We have opportunities available for people to post things, and we are trying to expand those opportunities by providing specific spaces for . . . expression of different ideas and so forth,” Mathur says.

According to the written policy, which was adopted by the board in April, students must have approval from the office of student services before they can display any sign or poster on campus. But even with a stamp of approval, displays are limited to certain bulletin boards.

Although the policy does not specifically mention faculty, Mathur says instructors are covered by the policy’s reference to members of the district community.

Irvine Valley College officials say the policy is modeled after rules at UC Irvine.

Indeed, fliers, signs and banners are limited to certain places on campus at UCI. But according to Randy Lewis, associate dean of students there, professors are free to post papers on their doors. And at UCI, neither faculty nor students are required to seek university approval before posting signs.

“I don’t think any of the academic departments or schools have regulations against putting an announcement or flier on the door,” Lewis said.

Professors are free to post whatever they like within their offices, just not on the doors or windows, Mathur says. Bulletin boards in the schools’ corridors are reserved for academic announcements.

“We’re just trying to balance out the needs for freedom of expression along with maintaining a campus which is appealing and attractive to students, faculty and staff alike,” Mathur says.

This is not the first time Mathur has been accused of interfering with expression on campus. The policy itself was adopted in response to a lawsuit brought by two student protesters who were prevented from speaking on campus. The case was settled in April.

Carol Fogel, a 1st Amendment specialist and former American Civil Liberties Union lawyer now in private practice in Santa Monica, represented the students. Last week, she was contacted by members of the Irvine Valley College Academic Senate regarding the policy, which she considers unconstitutional.

College campuses have historically been the scene of expression and protest and dissent, Fogel says. “I’m not sure that in the context of a college campus . . . that aesthetics is a legitimate interest.”

According to the Irvine Valley College memo, professors have until Sunday to remove their displays or the college will remove them.

The academic Senate advised professors to comply with the policy “since the matter may necessitate resolution by the courts.”

Various plans for protest are in the works, professors say. Some are planning to display free-standing signs in their windows, so they can get their message out without breaking the rules.