Teaching Censorship

It is a sad sign of our times when an academic professor can be relieved from his duties for bringing up a controversial discussion in his class (“The Freedom to Offend,” editorial, Oct. 8). By all means, targeting ethnic minorities and name-calling should be adequate grounds for dismissing any instructor.

However, the speedy action taken by Orange Coast College, without determining whether the professor made those comments, alarms me. As a student at Cal State Northridge, I feel it is an outrage that students and professors cannot explore controversial issues without feeling a need to censor possible inflammatory comments. Orange Coast College will set a bad precedent for other universities that will inadvertently restrict students from gaining a full and impartial education.

Emy Fukushima

Los Angeles