Asbury Park Press: The truth about spin at OCC

Asbury Park Press columnist Bill Handleman has written some very entertaining pieces on the state of affairs over at Ocean County College in the past year or so, and he continues to do so with this latest column.

The following excerpt is more than I usually like to extract from a newspaper column, but I feel the need to preserve a good portion of the piece for this blog once the link becomes inactive...

Karen Bosley, a professor who has been teaching journalism at OCC for the better part of 36 years, had settled her lawsuit against the college. She had been restored to her proper position, teaching in her area of expertise rather than in some other field, and she had been awarded $90,000 by the court.

Another suit settled over the summer, brought by three past editors of the Viking News, resulted in Bosley being reinstated as the student paper's faculty adviser. The judge in the case spoke of the "chilling effect" the removal of an adviser could have on students and their First Amendment sensibilities.

In addition, two professors who were fired by OCC in 2005 took the college to court and won the right to know why their contracts had not been "renewed." The ruling was handed down in the spring. Each of the former professors was awarded $50,000 and granted assurances that the college would not speak ill of them to prospective employers. The case set a precedent.

The good guys had won, it seemed. There was cause for celebration. Together, teachers and students had struck a blow for freedom and fairness, two antiquated concepts that sometimes appear to elude the administration at OCC.

"I am relieved the lawsuit is over," said Bosley. "The three former editors and I have been vindicated ..."

She paused for a moment to allow the other shoe to drop.

"But the cost in human pain has been high," she went on. "Several student journalists, valuable members of the OCC faculty and others were disparaged because of administrative hubris ... some of the college's best faculty and administrators left earlier than planned, and two others were fired because ... they dared to exercise their First Amendment right to speak.

"The lawsuits have led to the adoption of a strong policy statement against censorship and reprisals. It remains to be seen whether more employees will exercise that right. I certainly hope they will."

Wait until the president of the college hears about this. His people have been going around telling everyone they got what they wanted out of the Bosley deal.

You know, pretty much.

"We got a lot of things we wanted," Tara Kelly was quoted as saying.

"It was not a one-sided settlement," she insisted.

Kelly is the vice president of college advancement, a title that sounds like a euphemism dipped in a vat of irony.

President Jon Larson, meanwhile, has been notable by his silence on anything pertaining to lawsuits or settlements.

Then again, when you have the power to create your own reality, what's the difference? When you can spin anything you want, any way you want, so what if your insurance company has to pay out all those piddling settlements and you have to concede control over certain trifling matters?

Man, how that must hurt. Not the money, the concessions.

"It's the insurance company that's paying the money," said Randy Monroe, an English professor and president of the faculty association. "But I did notice in the board report the other day that our insurance premiums were going up."

Years ago, when he was president at Luzerne Community College, Larson demoted a woman named Susan Merkel for some fuzzy reasons. She was an associate dean of human resources. She claimed he demoted her because she wouldn't lie for him.

Merkel sued the college. The first day of the trial, the insurance company heard her testimony and promptly offered her a hefty settlement.

For years after that, Larson's friends at OCC continued to spread the fantasy that Merkel's complaint was judged to have no legal merit.

Just churn out your own reality, no matter how far you might stray from the truth, no one will ever notice. They call this a management style.

Boz, OCC agree to settlement

I received word Friday evening that Prof. Karen "Boz" Bosley had reached a settlement in her federal lawsuit against Ocean County College, its trustees and several administrators.

Here are some links to related articles:

Ocean County Observer - OCC, journalism professor settle suit

Asbury Park Press - Professor reaches deal with college

And here is a statement released by Boz on the settlement:

This settlement reminds me of the story of the person who came home to find her house being burglarized and trashed. The police came in time to catch the perpetrators, who were allowed to keep two silver candlesticks. The lawmen were “happy” to catch the wrongdoers, who, themselves, were “happy” to not be shot in being forcibly removed and to be allowed to keep some of the loot, and the victim, while unhappy to have lost anything at all, was “happy” to have the destruction stopped and to have lost just two candlesticks.

I am happy to have the travesty in human dealings this case represents finished. I am relieved the lawsuit is over, the three Viking News former editors and I have been vindicated and I have back both the advisership and my journalism classes. But my joy is tempered by the pain, suffering and attempts at humiliation of several student journalists and by the pain, suffering and even death of several good and valuable members of the OCC faculty. During the course of these proceedings, some of the college’s best faculty and administrators left their employment earlier than planned; two others were fired, and one had serious health problems in the indefatigable pursuit of justice for all.

This case started with my removal as adviser to the Viking News after 35 years on the job and with the arbitrary, unmerited wrenching of my teaching assignment by removing me from teaching the journalism courses I had created and taught for more than 30 years, all with public intimation I was, among other things, incompetent to teach the courses and failed to obey orders. Now, three years later, I have been flattered to discover at recent settlement talks the administration considers me competent to teach at least 13 different courses and 50 sections, and that, although all previous talks demanded my immediate departure from the college (even in the middle of a semester), the new approach became “no one wants her to leave.”

While the agreement results in the restoration of my journalism courses, I will not have the other two beginning communications classes I had been teaching for many years. Since a settlement requires negotiations and “is not to be construed as an admission of wrongdoing,” I could not expect to have the full teaching assignment as it had been. In addition, this lawsuit has never been about money; it is about principle, and the modest financial compensation demonstrates that fact.

In all of these maneuverings, as in almost everything else, sadly, the very last consideration is the welfare of students. From the very beginning, student expression angered and embarrassed the college’s leadership, and the actions against me resulted. All the journalism groups who investigated the college said this. Students, sound educational principles and the First Amendment were trampled.

I am happy and grateful for the national support we received from students, colleges, various mass media, journalists and journalism organizations, especially College Media Advisers, the Society for Collegiate Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications and the Student Press Law Center. The understanding and acknowledgment of the First Amendment issues involved in the students’ case and mine by these media people and groups and by our legal counsel (Raymond Staub, Esq., and the Pepper Hamilton law firm) were and are invaluable.

Finally, the agreement is unique in that it has no confidentiality clause because I believe the public has a right to know about the proceedings of its public officials and institutions.

Asbury Park Press: OCC president says both sides "happy" with lawsuit settlement

Jon H. Larson, president of Ocean County College, finally reacts to the OCC-Viking News settlement...

OCC president says both sides "happy" with lawsuit settlement
Student journalists sued college over First Amendment rights

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/19/07

BY LAUREN O. KIDD
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

TOMS RIVER — In response to the settlement of a lawsuit filed against him by student journalists, Ocean County College President Jon H. Larson said Monday that he "welcomes the settlement and the chance it affords us to give our students a premier learning experience."

The settlement was announced Thursday.

The lawsuit against Larson and his administration — filed by Alberto Morales, Scott Coppola and Douglas Rush, editors of the Viking News, the college newspaper — charged that college administration officials violated their First Amendment rights.

They alleged that the administration was trying to intimidate editors and control newspaper content after the Viking News' periodic criticism of Larson and his administration's policies...

Read full story.

More on the Viking News-OCC settlement from the Asbury Park Press

Here is yet another Asbury Park Press article about the settlement between OCC and the Viking News:

Adviser "proud" of students' legal victory

OCC journalists fought censorship

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/18/07
BY LAUREN O. KIDD
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

The longtime adviser to Ocean County College's Viking News said she is "very proud" of her students following the settlement of a lawsuit the students filed against the college.

In the lawsuit, student editors charged college administration officials violated their First Amendment rights.

"There are a lot of students in this country that don't understand the rights and responsibilities of the free press,"said adviser and professor Karen Bosley.

When rights are violated and students "understand they can take legal action, many of them won't or don't," she said.

Bosley said she is proud of her students for exercising "their First Amendment rights without worrying about the administration trying to act against them." She also said she is thankful for the assistance of the Student Press Law Center.

Full story.

Text of joint statement; SPLC article link

Here is the full text of the joint statement from the Coppola v. Larson settlement that reinstated Prof. Karen Bosley as Viking News adviser and resulted in a "First Amendment" statement that says Ocean County College "supports free speech" among other things.

Joint Statement - Coppola v. Larson


And here is an excerpt from an article on the Student Press Law Center Web site...

A college newspaper adviser removed from her position in December 2005 has been permanently reinstated as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by several students who claimed her removal was an act of censorship by intimidation.

Karen Bosley, who had served as adviser to the Viking News at Ocean County College for 35 years until she was removed, continues her lawsuit against the college for taking away journalism classes she had taught at the college. Bosley is also a previous board member of the Student Press Law Center.

According to an article published in the June 7 issue of the Viking News, the settlement states the college "supports the free speech rights of students and employees and a student press free from prior review, prior restraint, or censorship as well as recognizes all student media as limited public forums."

"I'm very happy with being restored as adviser and extremely happy with the First Amendment statement because it not only protects student journalists and student media workers, but also students in general," Bosley said.

Full story.

Another delayed posting of recent media coverage

Well, I was supposed to put these links up last week, but since I am busy looking for a new job, I just didn't get around to it...but here you go.

The first link/excerpt is from an editorial piece published in the Ocean County Observer on Nov. 12, 2006.

Students educate OCC on free press
Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 11/12/06

There are achievements of many kinds at Ocean County College, not the least among them more awards coming to the "mouse that roared," the student newspaper that is still embroiled in a First Amendment battle with the administration.

The Viking News is the David in this battle with Goliath and, as far as we can determine, the paper is as feisty and independent a voice on the campus as it has ever been.

That is the course its editors have charted, one advisor Karen Bosley helped them follow.

Read full story.

And here is a news story published in the Nov. 9, 2006, issue of the Ocean County Observer about the awards won by Prof. Bosley and the Viking News staff previously mentioned here at Boz Watch.

OCC newspaper, embattled adviser win national awards
Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 11/9/06

BY DON BENNETT
STAFF WRITER

TOMS RIVER — The Viking News — the student-run newspaper at Ocean County College — and its longtime adviser have been recognized with prestigious awards for their free press battle with the college administration.

Adviser Karen Bosley, who had to go to court to keep that job after the OCC administration decided to replace her, received the 2006 Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award from College Media Advisers Inc., a group that had been highly critical of Bosley's ouster.

She was recognized for her work as an educator to "defend the First Amendment rights of student journalists."

Read full story.

Bosley, Viking News receive awards in St. Louis

While the St. Louis Cardinals were parading around with the 2006 World Series trophy Sunday, Karen Bosley and the Viking News picking up some hardware of their own in the Gateway City.

Bosley received the 2006 Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award recognizing educators who defend the First Amendment rights of student journalists. The award, which is conferred annually by College Media Advisers, Inc., was formally announced at the Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Advisers-sponsored National College Media Convention in St. Louis, Oct. 29.

Meanwhile, the Viking News earned the 2006 College Press Freedom Award. Sponsored by the Student Press Law Center, the award is given each year to a college student-journalist or student news organization that has demonstrated outstanding support for the free press rights of America's college student media.

Three editors at the Viking News filed a lawsuit in May against college President Jon Larson and several other administrators after the school removed longtime newspaper adviser Karen Bosley. The lawsuit alleges that Bosley’s removal was the result of retaliation for several stories the newspaper wrote critical of the school’s administration.

In July, a federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction that ordered school officials to reinstate Bosley as adviser while the lawsuit continues.

"Thanks to the Viking News' perseverance and commitment, their adviser — who for more than three decades has put her neck on the chopping block to stand up for her students — is back in the newsroom today," SPLC Legal Consultant Mike Hiestand told the gathering of college student journalists and advisers from across the country.

"Student media advisers everywhere can breathe at least a little bit easier thanks to the precedent their case has established," Hiestand said.

Read the full text of the SPLC's College Press Freedom Award press release.

To read the text of the Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award press release, right-click or ctrl+click on the images below and open the image in a new window or tab. If you click regularly, you may need to sign in to Flickr or Yahoo to view the full-size image.

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(National College Media Convention graphic from CollegeMedia.org)