AT A TIME when college professors all across America are going hoarse complaining about diminished academic freedom and “chilling effects,” a small group of teachers at Orange Coast College in southern California is applauding the crackdown on free speech.

You may remember that after a September 18 class, four Muslim students claimed that their professor, Kenneth W. Hearlson, called them “terrorists,” “Nazis,” and “murderers.” School administrators suspended Hearlson without due–or any other kind of–process. Last week, an independent investigation concluded that nothing the Muslim students alleged had actually taken place. The college reinstated Hearlson, but put a letter of reprimand in his personnel file and refused to either publicly acknowledge his innocence or punish the students who lied about him.