CSUN Professors Seek Action Against Student

NORTHRIDGE —  Sociology professors at Cal State Northridge have complained to university officials that they have been threatened by a student government leader who faces trial next week on an unrelated charge that he extorted money from a fellow undergraduate.

Three professors said in a complaint filed in May that the student stalked them or disrupted classes, and allege that the administration has ignored their demands that he be disciplined.

University officials say they will not take any action until their investigation, which began in May, is completed and refused further comment. No charges have been filed related to the professors’ complaints.

Gustavo Gutierrez, 26, of Mission Hills, a sociology and Chicano studies major, faces a Jan. 10 trial in San Fernando Superior Court on a misdemeanor charge that he used his position as a residence hall advisor to extort money in November from dormitory students whom he had caught breaking student housing rules.

Several attempts to reach Gutierrez in person and by phone were unsuccessful.

According to campus police reports, a student whose name was not released said he paid Gutierrez $200 to keep him from telling authorities that the student smoked marijuana in the on-campus University Park Apartments.

Jane De Andrade, a deputy Los Angeles city attorney, said the infraction is an “extortion-type crime” punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to six months in jail.

Gutierrez serves as the appointed student director of public safety for the student government. In that position as liaison with the University Police Department, he advises the Associated Students on issues of campus safety such as nighttime lighting on sidewalks.

Sociology department faculty members said they sought to have Gutierrez expelled in April when they reported to the Department of Student Affairs their allegations that he had threatened professors with bodily harm and followed them to their homes.

Lawrence Sneden, the department’s senior faculty member, said in an interview that he felt so menaced by Gutierrez that he requested his expulsion last spring and took a paid leave during the fall semester. Two other professors joined with Sneden in making a formal complaint, and the department chairwoman said she changed her parking location to avoid Gutierrez.

Sneden and others said all 30 sociology faculty members filed a petition with Student Affairs in May supporting Sneden’s request to have Gutierrez expelled. The office would not comment on the petition, but in a letter dated May 11, university administrator William Watkins acknowledged receiving it.

“The petition conveys a concern for the right of faculty to receive support for the removal of disruptive students from their classes,” wrote Watkins, the assistant vice president for Student Affairs. “This concern is important to me and all the university administrators.”

The university has not punished the student, who must complete two more sociology classes to earn a degree in that major, department officials said. The investigation by the Department of Student Affairs could exonerate Gutierrez, result in his expulsion, or yield something in between. Watkins said expelled students are barred from attending other Cal State University campuses.

Watkins said he did not know when the investigation would be finished, adding that the decision to expel a student is carefully deliberated because the ramifications are permanent.

Speaking about Gutierrez, Robert Hanff, Associated Students president, said it was hard to believe the sociology professors are describing the same person with whom he has spent considerable time in leadership groups over the past four years.

“He’s always been pleasant,” said Hanff, a senior from Winnetka majoring in political science. “That’s the only thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jane Prather, chairwoman of the sociology department, said the dispute has driven a wedge between the department faculty and the university administration.

“The faculty dean and the police have told us what to do, but to me they didn’t show much concern for our safety,” Prather said. “I’ve been here 31 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.

“Certainly there needs to be concern for students’ rights and fears of litigation concerning students’ rights,” she said. “But there seems to be a lot of emphasis there instead of the broader picture of protecting the innocent students. What about the students in that dorm?”

Sneden said he felt so threatened after Gutierrez made a “disturbing” oral presentation to his sociologic theory course last spring that he canceled the remaining class sessions. Instead of meeting on campus, Sneden held conferences with students over the Internet, he said.

“On this extremely politically correct campus, a student can do anything in class and get away with it,” Sneden said. “If a professor did the same things, he would not have a job.”

Sneden has taken his case to the California Faculty Assn., the Cal State professors union. Guillermo Brzostowski, the union’s regional service coordinator, said last week that Cal State officials had not responded to the union’s request for a hearing on the matter. Cal State officials refused to comment on the matter, citing Gutierrez’s academic privacy.