Monday, December 12, 2011

Derek Reeve's take on "middle eastern students"


     As you know, we've been keeping track of plagiarist, Islamophobe—and Saddleback College Poli Sci instructor—Derek Reeve. Reeve is a noisy right-wing member of the San Juan Capistrano City Council (and a doctoral student at Claremont Grad School). We first noticed the fellow when, as a City Councilman, he proposed changing a city ordinance to allow residents to carry guns in city parks.
     That seemed loony. Irresponsible.
     A few months later, he drew more attention when he boasted, during a City Council meeting, that he had named one of his dogs "Muhammad" (Muslims often regard dogs as "unclean").
     He's a lout. He refused to apologize, insisting that the naming was some sort of teaching opportunity with his children (and, I suppose, his dogs) and not an attempt to ridicule Muslims. That sounded mighty implausible.
This image appears on Reeve's
"Patriots of Troy" Facebook page
& blog
     The next chapter was a real stunner. Soon, it came to light that he had plagiarized much of the content of several political posts for the San Juan Capistrano Patch. In response to the predictable outrage—some of it coming from us—he noisily protested that, though he did publish others' works as his own, it did not count as plagiarism, since it occurred on a blog (the SJC Patch is a kind of city/neighborhood news blog). Yeah, sure.
     Clearly, Reeve is the kind of politician who doesn't mind offering explanations that no intelligent person would accept. Such politicians are called "liars." Reeve's kind of liar is shameless, it seems.
     Because we are academics, we jumped all over the distressing circumstance that Reeve, a college instructor—both at Saddleback and at Concordia University in Irvine—repeatedly plagiarized and then defended his actions as appropriate. How could such a person instill intellectual honesty in his students? How could he enforce the prohibition against plagiarism? Unsurprisingly, Concordia U seemed to let Reeve go over the plagiarism incident. Scandalously, Saddleback College seems happy to continue to employ Reeve as a Poli Sci instructor. (See Spring schedule of classes. I see that he's scheduled to teach two courses, starting January)
     Maybe that will change. Here's something Reeve recently posted on one of his Facebook pages:

I've blackened out the names and blurred out the faces
     Gosh, I wonder if he has an explanation for this latest outrage? If so, I'll bet it'll be a doozy.

UPDATE: The Capistrano Insider (Capistrano Dispatch) has the story: Capistrano Councilman Reeve at it Again: Questions Integrity of 'Middle Eastern' Students

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my. Who is supervising him at Saddleback? This is beyond embarrassing - how awful for his students to be treated in this manner. Concordia was right to let him go.

Anonymous said...

Such bald ugliness. Makes me sick.

Anonymous said...

Guess who won't be signing up for his classes?

How can we bring this to the attention to the people at Saddleback? They seem determined to ignore his behavior.

Someone should speak up for his students.

Anonymous said...

This is really bad. When will someone take some responsibility? I can't believe they let him continue to teach this semester - let alone gave him classes for next. His students have grounds for grievances or even more - considering the lack of oversight of the district. Obviously they were more concerned with Reeve's welfare than that of his students. Shame.

Anonymous said...

It's a good thing you guys cover this stuff (and the Ahearn case) - nobody down here seems to care.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Saddleback is aware of him. You just have to wonder who is defending him, protecting him, keeping him in the classroom. We've had these kind of people at both campuses - disrespectful, racist, sexist. Their buddies take care of them. One wonders if their buddies share their views. They certainly make enough excuses for them. Still do. (Here at IVC there is one longstanding case in point.)

It is unconscionable.

Anonymous said...

The lack of oversight here has been egregious. Shame indeed.

Anonymous said...

Shame on Saddleback.

Anonymous said...

There seems to be a pattern here - from Reeve and from the administration.

Anonymous said...

I waiting to hear how Reeve will defend this action.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps they're concerned Reeve will sue them. Apparently they are not so concerned about the rights of students to be taught in a non-hostile, professional setting.

Anonymous said...

"They" will defend themselves with their usual stonewalled silence.

Reeve will make himself out to be the misunderstood victim in all this.

The students will continue to be poorly served.

Anonymous said...

How did you find this? I can't find him on FB...

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a job for that civil discourse task team force!

Roy Bauer said...

7:47, Reeve's post was on a personal account that is restricted.

Anonymous said...

District HR continues to fail miserably. They should either get rid of Reeve, or both him and the HR director.

Anonymous said...

HR does what is easiest for them. Disciplining bad employees takes work, and HR always finds a way to not take on work. So we're left with really bad employees who should've been canned long ago.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...