Albert Lorenzo, President
Macomb Community College
14500 E. Twelve Mile Road
Warren, MI 48093

Re: Suspension of Professor John Bonnell

 Dear President Lorenzo:

A friend from Michigan recently sent me a newspaper clip, which described the events leading to Macomb Community College's suspension of Professor John Bonnell. The article outlined the college's position regarding Mr. Bonnell's use of "vulgar" language in the classroom, and described how his actions made at least one student uncomfortable. I am writing to commend you for your concern for your students' needs. When I was a student at MCC, I too was made to feel uncomfortable in Mr. Bonnell's classroom.

I attended classes at Macomb from 1972 to 1976, and had the opportunity to experience a variety of teaching styles and classroom learning environments. In my third semester at Macomb, I registered for a Communications course taught by Professor Bonnell. From the first day of class, I found Mr. Bonnell's teaching style to be more than just unusual. It was outrageous! I could not believe how openly Mr. Bonnell discussed sexuality, religion, politics, and current events in his attempts to elucidate the literature we were reading for class. It made me exceedingly uncomfortable!

As a young man of eighteen, who recently had been nearly forcibly thrown out of his parents' home, I was already in a state of severe discomfort. I was contused about the upheaval in my family life, and insecure about my own identity and my future. Given these circumstances, I was especially vulnerable to the disquiet created by Professor Bonnell's teaching methods.

In this swirl of personal chaos, I read and reread the short stories assigned by Mr. Bonnell, attempting to "look between the lines" for deeper meaning, as he had instructed. I searched, sometimes desperately, for the hidden treasure locked in the authors' words and metaphors, hoping to find some morsel of wisdom to help me understand my world. In class, Professor Bonnell continued his antics. Through his language and his discussion of his life experiences, he prodded me and the other students in class to, in today's vernacular, "think outside the box." This too made me uncomfortable.

But then an odd thing happened. As the weeks went by, I began to feel that the discomfort in my life had a purpose, that the dissonance I felt in my everyday world (further exacerbated by Mr. Bonnell's class) was not accidental, that it was part of some larger human endeavor. One day, while reflecting on the previous night's class, it dawned on me that the discomfort I was experiencing was the source of all real learning. And with this epiphany, I discovered a basic human truth: to build a true identity-a sense of self created by the individual rather than by society-a human being must first realize that there is something profoundly wrong in his life. Only in the discomfort and dissonance of this experience can one find that small seed of free will required to begin the difficult effort to put things right, and become genuinely human.

From that day forward, I dived into my studies with abandon. I could not believe how much one could learn from literature. To me, the readings assigned by Mr. Bonnell were not just interesting or entertaining stories, but rather life lessons built of intellect, passion, and experience. As I look back with these 45-year-old eyes, I tell you truly that before those days of discovery in Mr. Bonnell's class, I never lived. In the years since I first attended his class, my life has been full of discovery, joy, pain, and love. And for the opportunity to create this life, I am indebted in large measure to John Bonnell (and to whatever power in the universe that may have sent him my way.)

President Lorenzo, at the outset of this letter, I commended you for your concern for your students' needs. I apologize for misleading you, because I failed to make it clear that while you may have concern for your students' needs, you seem not to understand, in the least, the true nature of those needs. The Academy should not strive to ensure that students feel comfortable with themselves and the world around them. On the contrary, its purpose is to provide students with the emotional impetus and the intellectual tools necessary to uncover the truth about themselves, and about the universe in which they live. As the Greek aphorism (which I learned at Macomb) suggests, the unexamined life is not worth living!

To this point, let me cite a favorite film, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Near the end of the movie, there is a remarkable scene between Kurtz, a rogue Colonel whose methods of carrying out war are deemed dangerous by his commanders, and Willard, a Captain sent by those commanders to kill Kurtz. When the two men finally confront one another, Kurtz asks Willard, "Are you an assassin?" Willard replies defiantly, "No, I'm a soldier." Kurtz coolly responds, "You're neither. You're an errand boy.. .sent by grocery clerks.. .to collect a bill."

In my experience, this scene serves as a metaphor for many of the actions we human beings take. And unfortunately, it describes all too well the circumstances surrounding the college's suspension of Mr. Bonnell. The grocery clerks and errand boys of the college have blindly sought to eradicate Professor Bonnell's "dangerous" teaching methods from the college. As a result of this inquisition, the students of Macomb Community College, sadly, are missing the opportunity to discover themselves in the outrageousness of Professor Bonnell's classroom. Given the college's actions in this matter, I can only conclude that its educational mission for the new century is to graduate more errand boys and grocery clerks from its now "hollowed" halls.

President Lorenzo, for the sake of MCC's students, I urge you and the Board of Trustees to reconsider the action you have taken against Professor Bonnell. John belongs in the classroom. He is the finest teacher and the finest human being I have ever known.

Sincerely,
(signed )Jim Pruss
2987 Leafwood Drive
Marietta, GA 30067

cc: Macomb Community College Board of Trustees