STUDENT THREATENING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY

Grievance alleges violation of privacy, racial discrimination

by Doug Harrison

A University student says she is ready to take an English professor and the UM Board of Curators to federal court for alleged racial discrimination if the University does not give her grievance an administrative hearing.

In a grievance filed with the division of Student Affairs in April, Melinda L. Long, a senior English major, alleged that John Onuska, an English professor, violated her civil rights by distributing a copy of her attendance records and grades to students in English 338, Shakespeare: Comedies and Histories, during the fall semester of 1996.

"That list had every student's name, attendance and quiz grades on it," Long said. In excerpts from Onuska's grade sheet obtained by The Current, the word "black" is hand written next to Long's name.

Long, an African-American, further alleges that next to other "larger students'" names in the class, Onuska entered the notation "fat."

In her grievance, she requested that the D she received in the course be changed to an A and that Onuska be fired.

Onuska would not comment on the allegations or any aspect of the grievance.

"Professor Onuska has not only violated the Third Party Privacy Rights Act by allowing each student to view every (other) student's grades and attendance records, but most importantly, he has violated the Equal Rights Opportunities Act," Long wrote in a memo to Karl Beeler, interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs, on April 22.

Beeler would not comment on specifics of the case.

Under the Collected Rules and Regulations of the UM System, discrimination grievances filed with Student Affairs are forwarded to the "appropriate administrative officer," in this case the vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, and the Office of Equal Opportunity.

The vice chancellor for Academic Affairs may attempt to resolve the issue informally. If informal resolutions do not succeed, the grievance proceeds to a formal stage where a grievance committee is impaneled.

Norman Seay, director of OEO, said he received a copy of Long's grievance but was not the officer charged with adjudicating the complaint. According to Seay, Long had earlier filed a grade grievance with the College of Arts & Sciences, effectively eliminating the possibility of filing a discrimination grievance.

"Under the code, students may either choose one or the other," Seay said, referring to the grade or discrimination grievance.

Long said she no longer intended to pursue a grade grievance.

"I talked with administrators in A&S in April who told me I could file both," Long said. "After I found out I couldn't, I dropped the grade grievance."

In a letter to Seay on Sept. 5, Long formally requested a grievance committee be impaneled and she be given an Administrative Advisory Hearing, as provided for in section 390.101E.

Long said the University is "attempting to pacify me by delaying due process," since she filed the grievance in April and it has yet to be adjudicated. Wednesday, Seay said he had forwarded Long's letter to Jack Nelson, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, so that Nelson could adjudicate the complaint.

In a letter to Long Tuesday, Nelson, who would not comment on the case, promised to respond to her complaint within 15 working days of Sept 8, as provided for by the system code.

"While you are free to request any remedy you feel appropriate, you may be interested to note that the student discrimination grievance procedure is not a disciplinary process," Nelson wrote. "Rather, it is designed to provide appropriate remedies to students who can show (that they have) been the victim of prohibited discrimination."