The student who filmed and released a video of his professor equating the election of Donald Trump to an “an act of terrorism” late last year has now been suspended from the college for one semester and ordered to write an apology letter and essay explaining his actions.
Caleb O’Neil, a student at Orange Coast College (OCC), recorded the rant of professor Olga Pere Stable-Cox in December 2016 and it went viral shortly after it was published online.
According to a new report by Campus Reform, O’Neil recently received a letter from the school administration informing him of the sanctions they had decided to impose as a result of him posting the video online. The website published a copy of the letter that states a review of the incident conducted by the school found he had violated sections of the student conduct code that cover unauthorized tape recording and unauthorized use of an electronic device.
In addition to a one-semester suspension and one-semester probationary period upon his return to the school, O’Neil must draft an apology letter to the professor who the school apparently says received a number of threats and bad publicity in the aftermath of the video’s release. O’Neil is also required to draft a three-page essay by the end of this month explaining to the dean of students why he videotaped his professor in violation of the conduct code, his “thoughts and analysis” on why he shared the video and the impact it had on others after going viral. The essay also requires him to address “other choices” he could have made after hearing the rant and what he’ll do to ensure he is not involved in anything like this again.
“Unauthorized recording is a serious violation of the Student Code of Conduct. This is clearly stated in the instructor’s course syllabus in addition to the student code of conduct,” the letter states. “When we spoke, you stated that you felt badly about the things that had happened to individuals as a result of this incident. It is my hope that this experience will lead you to truly think through your actions and the consequences of those actions when making decisions in the future. As we discussed, the conduct process is part of the overall college learning process and I do believe that valuable lessons have been gained from this experience.”
O’Neil is represented by attorney Bill Becker, founder of the FreedomX law firm that seeks to protect conservative and religious freedoms on campuses nationwide. Beckner emailed the news outlet and called the punishment “an attack by leftists in academia to protect the expressive rights of their radical instructors at the expense of the expressive rights of conservative students on campus.”
LawNewz contacted the school’s director of media and public relations, and we will update this article when we receive a response.
