Ewu Faculty Standards Scrutinized Incidents Raise Concerns About School’s Ability To Handle Problems

FROM FOR THE RECORD (Tuesday, July 9, 1996): Veronica Compton was sent back to prison last spring for a parole violation stemming from her conviction for an attempted murder in 1980. A Sunday story may have implied otherwise. FROM FOR THE RECORD (Monday, July 8, 1996): Russell C. Boggs is a former Eastern Washington University associate geology professor. A story Sunday indicated otherwise.

A longtime sociology professor at Eastern Washington University is being allowed to retire early after two students accused him of sexual assault.

The case is the latest in a string of problems involving Eastern faculty that raises questions among colleagues and students about professional standards on campus.

In recent months, a geography professor was caught collecting child pornography. A visiting instructor resigned over allegations of harassment. And a veteran government professor saw his wife arrested for violating her parole.

Eastern’s handling of the sexual assault case is receiving the most criticism.

Students and faculty members said Professor William “Dan” Perdue is hardly being punished for what they see as, at the very least, a serious violation of ethics and, at worst, predatory behavior.

By letting Perdue ease into retirement while issuing a statement praising his academic achievements, EWU largely ignores the emotional damage inflicted on the students, and the potential for recurring problems, they said.

“This is telling victims, ‘Don’t come forward because you won’t get justice,”’ said one alleged victim.

County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser declined to press charges because of the difficulty of proving the cases. Perdue claimed the contact was by mutual consent, and thus, not illegal.

The Faculty Senate was preparing a formal public inquiry as part of the dismissal process when the administration reached its settlement with Perdue and his attorney.

“He violated a trust we have with the public and with each other,” said Professor Robert Morgenstern, chairman of the Faculty Senate.

“Every one of us feel we’ve been betrayed,” said Morgenstern, who teaches criminal justice. “I think he should have had to stand up in front of his colleagues and explain himself.”

Morgenstern and other critics said the university administration needs to get tough if it wants to rein in misconduct.

University President Mark Drummond said he is working to strengthen ethics standards at EWU and root out problem faculty members.

Campus police Lt. Tom McGill said K-12 schools have done background checks on teachers for years, and it’s time to start doing it on college campuses.

Drummond said he supports background checks before new faculty members are hired.

But they wouldn’t prevent every problem.

Russell C. Boggs, a former associate geology professor, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to using his state-owned computer to download child porn from the Internet.

Drummond said the Boggs case is a good example of the university’s aggressive approach to wrongdoing.

The prosecution came after the university found evidence of pornography, seized Boggs’ computer and tipped off federal authorities.

Critics said the handling of Boggs shows inconsistency. The university aided prosecution in one case but allowed others to slip away without penalty.

Visiting instructor James Ward left quietly at midterm last spring amid accusations he sent mail slandering two of his students about their sexuality and honesty, campus police said. The charge could not be proven because of insufficient evidence.

Another case involves questionable judgment, but no real wrongdoing, so the university can’t take action, Drummond said.

Government Professor James Wallace watched his wife get sent back to prison on an attempted murder conviction last spring, and the couple’s 3-year-old daughter was taken into temporary custody by the state.

Wallace’s wife, Veronica Compton, is the former girlfriend of Hillside Strangler Kenneth Bianchi, who terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s when he killed 10 women.

Compton was convicted of trying to strangle a cocktail waitress in Bellingham in 1980 to provide an alibi for Bianchi.

Wallace has taught government at Eastern since 1967. He left his wife of 38 years and married Compton, apparently after the two began writing to each other while she was in prison. Wallace has offered legal help to prisoners in the past.

Authorities said Compton and Wallace had pornographic murals painted by Compton and hung on the walls of the home.

While an embarrassment to the school and the subject of campus gossip, Drummond said there’s nothing the university can do.

“I feel sorry for him (Wallace) because it kind of screws up his life,” Drummond said.

More serious is the issue of sexual contact between faculty members and their students.

Drummond said the fact that most college students are over the age of 18 doesn’t make it OK for professors to seduce them.

Professors hold a position of power over students, and if they are unethical, can use that power to force students into compromising situations, Drummond said.

Universities, including Eastern, have not been aggressive enough against faculty members having sexual relationships with students, but that is going to change, Drummond promised. “I’m going to turn up the heat on that,” he said.

In Drummond’s view, the faculty code of conduct prohibits sexual relationships between professors and students. The faculty union contract requires the university to seek a mutual settlement with a faculty member prior to bringing public dismissal charges against them.

Under his agreement, Perdue goes on unpaid leave for the next two years, and becomes eligible for early retirement benefits after he turns 55.

The only reason given in the agreement is “disputed claims with regard to Perdue’s employment.”

In the meantime, he is being allowed to buy medical insurance through the university.

He will be eligible to apply for professor emeritus status, something reserved for faculty retiring in good graces.

The agreement also includes a clause prohibiting top EWU officials and sociology faculty from talking about the case.

If people make inquiries they are given only the agreement and a one-page statement that says Perdue is taking the leave to pursue academic writing on a full-time basis.

According to the statement, Perdue is the author of six academic books, a recipient of the EWU trustees medal for distinguished teaching and scholarship and a nominee in 1990 for professor of the year.

“What makes me mad is this man got away with it,” said Andrea Tiffany, a sociology student and someone familiar with the Perdue case.

“It’s typical of Eastern to handle things this way,” said Mara Parker, another student familiar with the case.

The student who filed the rape complaint was unavailable for comment and has retained an attorney for a possible civil lawsuit.

The second student - who reported being the victim of an attempted rape by Perdue - said detectives, the prosecutor and school officials have, with a few exceptions, let her down.

“The university protects its own interests in these types of things and the students get sold down the river,” she said.

“This agreement, in effect, makes Eastern his public relations agent,” she said.

The two women were taking classes from Perdue, and he was their adviser.

Because they worked closely with him at the university, they told investigators they were not alarmed when he asked them to accompany him off campus for a meal prior to the incidents.

The first student claimed she was raped in Perdue’s sport utility vehicle in the parking lot of the Ramada Inn at the airport last March.

The second student said the rape attempt occurred in her Spokane home after Perdue gave her a ride there.

Perdue refuses to comment, and has referred questions to his attorneys, who were unavailable last week.

Last spring, his attorney, Carl Hueber, said Perdue passed a lie detector test that Hueber had arranged.

Drummond said getting Perdue to take a leave and then retire early gets him off campus and off the tax payroll quickly. A drawn out dismissal case could take two years, he said.

Drummond last fall declared zero tolerance for sexual misconduct after a series of reported rapes on campus involving students.

The Perdue case and the others involve 1 percent of the faculty or less, Drummond said.

“We’ve had a lot of unfortunate things that happened this year because people made bad judgments,” he said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Faculty under fire Here are recent allegations made against Eastern Washington University faculty members: Sociology Professor William “Dan” Perdue was accused of rape by one of his students and attempted rape by a second student. He was allowed to retire early. Russell C. Boggs, associate geology professor, pleaded guilty to using his stateowned computer to download child pornography from the Internet. He resigned. Visiting instructor James Ward left last spring amid accusations he sent slanderous mail questioning the sexuality and honesty of two of his students.

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Mike Prager Staff writer Staff writer Adam Lynn contributed to this report.