2 Lake Michigan College students appeal

3-5-2010 Michigan:

The pair were suspended for being registered child sex offenders; hearing set for March 12

BENTON TOWNSHIP - Two of the three Lake Michigan College students suspended for being registered child sex offenders will have an appeals hearing March 12, a college spokeswoman said Thursday.

Laura Kraklau confirmed that two of the suspended students have filed appeals of last month's decision to bar them from campus, made when officials learned they were on the state's sex offenders registry.

The issue arose when one person seeking to sign up for classes identified himself as a registered sex offender for an offense involving a minor. Administrators checked the registry and found three students on campus who were on the list for crimes against children. The one who admitted to being on the registry was not allowed to register, and the three on campus were suspended between Feb. 11-15.

Under the college's new regulation, others on the registry for offenses involving children will be barred from the college's four campuses. The students are allowed to take classes online.

People convicted of sex crimes against adults are not barred from campus.

Because names remain on the registry for 25 years, the suspensions amount to expulsions.

LMC cited the presence of a child day care facility on the main campus in Benton Township as one reason for the decision to prohibit people whose offenses involve minors.

Kraklau said the appeals hearing would be "an internal process" that would not be open to the public. The appeals committee will be made up of two members of the Student Senate, two faculty members and an administrator, probably a dean, Kraklau said.

After hearing the appeals, the committee will have seven business days to reach a decision. While the hearings would not be open, Kraklau said the final decision might be made public.

The announcement about the new rule was made Feb. 17 on the college's Facebook page. There was no similar announcement about the student appeals.

Kraklau acknowledged that there were "strong feelings on both sides" on campus about the suspensions.

On the LMC Facebook page, Marie Edwards asked, "What is LMC doing to protect its adult students from rape?"

Jeannette Holton commented on the Facebook page that she believes that the sex offender registry "contains many, many people who are not a threat to the safety of others, including those who as teenagers had sex with a younger teenager."

Meanwhile, Holton pointed out, "a person who is on the sex offender registry for violently raping an adult is free to attend."

Berrien County Commissioner Gloria Gillespie, a licensed counselor since 1975 who has worked with the perpetrators and victims of sexual assault, is trying to set up a meeting with college officials "so that when they have to reach a decision they have more information."

She told the county health board Wednesday that she disagrees with the decision to bar these people from campus.

"I'm not an advocate of sex offenders. I'm an advocate of continuing education," Gillespie said. "Are we helping sex offenders by not helping them get an education?"

She said that a person can commit an offense at 11 and remain on the registry into his or her 30s, while there's no similar registry for murderers.

Health Board Chairman Duane McBride agreed that a clearer definition of what constitutes a threat is needed.

"A sex offender is different than a predator," McBride said.

The controversy is attracting national attention. The Chronicle of Higher Education posted an article on its Web site Thursday questioning whether Lake Michigan College's policy could withstand a legal challenge.

Gary Pavela, a legal consultant to colleges, told the Chronicle that the problem with the regulation is that it does not consider offenders on a case-by-case basis.

"The law is clear that there must be individual assessment," Pavela said in the article. "I think there is a legitimate legal question worthy of challenge." ..Source.. JOHN MATUSZAK - Assistant Local News Editor