PCC Assistant Professor Placed on Paid Administrative Leave

Pasadena City College placed one of its longtime faculty member on paid administrative leave for allegedly hitting one of his students.

English Assistant Professor Mark McQueen, 64, allegedly hit one of his students on Halloween, the Pasadena Star-News reported.

Faculty Association President Roger Marheine said the student was the one who stood up, raised his fist and uttered rude words while McQueen was teaching the class, the newspaper reported.

Marheine added that McQueen only raised his hand as a self-defense from a “potential blow from the student.”

The investigation is ongoing. McQueen was placed on leave to “protect the integrity of the investigation” and to shield McQueen and the unidentified student from “any further incident during its course,” PCC legal counsel Gail Cooper told the Star-News.

Marheine said the college administration’s action to put McQueen on leave was done too fast.

Earlier this year, Warren Swill, another faculty member and the adviser of the school’s campus newspaper, was also placed on leave for an alleged sexual harassment of a student and Professor Hugo Schwyzer, the so-called “Porn Professor,”  left his post a few days after he was was given a letter by the college’s attorneys asking him to resign due to alleged misconduct.