-MLG Tarikh Demekpe v. California State University Dominguez Hills et al, No. 2:2011cv01177 - Document 21 (C.D. Cal. 2011)

Court Description: NOTICE OF MOTION AND First MOTION for Summary Judgment as to Genuine Issue of Material Fact filed by defendant Board of Trustees of The California State University. Motion set for hearing on 11/21/2011 at 10:00 AM before Judge Dean D. Pregerson. (At tachments: # 1 Statement of Uncontroverted Facts, # 2 Proposed Order Proposed Order Granting Summary Judgment, # 3 Proposed Judgment, # 4 Declaration Declaration of Ginger Wilson, # 5 Declaration Declaration of Anupama Joshi, # 6 Declarat ion Declaration of Dr. Clarence "Gus" Martin, # 7 Declaration Declaration of Dr. S. Noel Sturm, # 8 Declaration Declaration of Dr. William R. Whetstone, # 9 Declaration Declaration of Dr. Miguel Dominguez, # 10 Declaration Declaration of Susan Westover, # 11 Exhibit Exhibits in Support of MSJ, Volume I, # 12 Exhibit Exhibits in Support of MSJ, Volume II, # 13 Exhibit Exhibits in Support of MSJ, Volume III)(Westover, Susan)

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-MLG Tarikh Demekpe v. California State University Dominguez Hills et al 2 3 4 Doc. 21 Att. 6 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL Christine Helwick (SBN 057274) Susan Westover (SEN 151211) 401 Golden Shore, 4th Floor Long CA 90802-4210 Tel.: 1-4500 Fax: 951-4956 5 6 Attorneys for Defendant Board of Trustees of the California State University 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TARIKH DEMEKPE, Plaintiff, 12 vs. 13 14 15 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, Defendant. 16 Case No. CVII-1177 DDP (MLG) Date: Time: Courtroom: Judge: DECLARATION OF DR. CLARENCE "GUS" MARTIN IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT CSU'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Date of Filing: Trial Date: 17 November 21,2011 10:00 a.m. 3 Hon. Dean D. Pregerson February 23,2011 Not Set 18 19 20 I, Dr. Clarence "Gus" Martin, declare as follows: 21 1. I am the Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Development at 22 California State University, Dominguez Hills. One of my many responsibilities is to 23 maintain student grade appeal files and generally oversee the process to ensure 24 compliance with systemwide and campus-based policies and procedures. 2. 25 From time to time, the CSU Chancellor issues Executive Orders setting 26 systemwide policies. They are distributed to all campuses, and posted on the CSU 27 website so they are accessible to faculty, staff, students, and the public. 28 III -1- MSJ: DEC. OF DR. C. "GUS" MARTIN Case No. CV11-1177 DDP (MLG) Dockets.Justia.com 3. On September 8, 2008, Chancellor Charles B. Reed issued Executive Order 2 No. 1037, covering the subjects of Grading Symbols, Minimum Standards Governing 3 the Assignment of Grades, Policies on the Repetition of Courses, Policies on Academic 4 Renewal, and Grade Appeals. A true and correct copy is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 5 1. 6 4. Executive Order No. 1037 superseded a pnor order that governed 7 Assignment of Grades and Grade Appeals. A true and correct copy of now-superseded 8 Executive Order No. 320 is submitted as CSU Exhibit No.2. 5. 9 As required by the Executive Orders, each campus was required to develop 10 procedures that track the requirements of the Executive Orders. A true and correct copy 11 of the CSUDH Student Grade Appeals procedure is submitted as CSU Exhibit No.3. 12 The Grade Appeals procedure is posted on CSUDH's website and incorporated into 13 various publications. 6. 14 15 The CSUDH Grades Policy is posted on our website; a true and correct copy is submitted as CSU Exhibit No.4. 7. 16 A summary of CSUDH's student related policies is contained within the 17 CSUDH Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, and is also available on 18 CSUDH's website. A true and correct copy of the excerpted section on Student Related 19 Policies is submitted as CSU Exhibit No.5. 20 8. CSUDH is one of the 23 campuses of the California State University 21 system. It is a four-year university, and operates on a semester basis, offering two 22 semesters each academic year, one in the fall and one in the spring. CSUDH also offers 23 shorter sessions of academic instruction in the winter and summer. The academic year 24 begins with the fall semester and ends with the summer session. A true and correct 25 copy of the Academic Calendar for 2009/2010 is submitted as CSU Exhibit No.7. A 26 true and correct copy of the Academic Calendar for 2010/2011 is submitted as CSU 27 Exhibit No.8. 28 III -2- MSJ: DEC. OF DR. C. "GUS" MARTIN Case No. CVII-II77 DDP (MLG) 9. Tarikh Demekpe is an undergraduate student at CSUDH. His major is 2 declared as Human Services. He attended from the fall semester in 2006 through the 3 summer semester of 2010. His transcript and official educational records show that he 4 was also concurrently enrolled at other local institutions during that time frame. A true 5 and correct copy of his unofficial transcript through the end of the Summer session in 6 20 I 0, including his transcripts from other colleges for which he sought transfer credit 7 from CSUDH, is submitted as CSU Exhibit No.9. 8 identifiable information (Social Security number, student ID numbers, and home 9 address information) has been redacted. 10 10. Mr. Demekpe's personally During 2010, Mr. Demekpe submitted two separate grade appeals to the 11 CSUDH Student Grade Appeals Board. The first one challenged the grade he received 12 in English 350 in Spring 2010 from Professor Robertson. The second one challenged 13 the grade he received in Human Services 460 from Professor Escamilla. Mr. Demekpe 14 took that course twice - once in Spring and once in Summer 2010 15 not make clear whether he was appealing the grade received in one or both of those 16 courses. 17 18 19 11. and his appeal did Both grade appeal files are under my custody and control, and I am the official custodian of those files. 12. A true and correct copy of a June 3, 2010 email from Dr. Helen Oesterheld 20 to Tarikh Demekpe (as filed in the ENG 350 grade appeal file) is submitted as CSU 21 Exhibit No. 10. 22 13. 23 24 A true and correct copy of Tarikh Demekpe's June 8, 2010 grade appeal (as filed in the ENG 350 grade appeal file) is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 11. 14. A true and correct copy of a June 14, 2010 memorandum to the Student 25 Grade Appeals Board and me from Carol Ann Tubbs is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 26 12 (minus the attachments, which are not pertinent to this motion). 27 28 15. A true and correct copy of a June 14, 2010 memorandum from Dr. Helen Oesterheld (Chair of the English Department) to Carol Tubbs (Acting Associated Dean -3- MSJ: DEC. OF DR. C. "GUS" MARTIN Case No. CV11-1177 DDP (MLG) of the College of Art and Humanities) is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 13. 16. 2 A true and correct copy of Tarikh Demekpe's second letter dated June 15, 3 2010, submitted in support of his grade appeal in ENG 350 is submitted as CSU Exhibit 4 No. 14. 17. 5 On August 27, 2010, Demekpe submitted a grade appeal of HUS 460 via 6 email addressed to Anupama Joshi, the acting Director/Associate Dean of the College of 7 Professional Studies in the School of Health and Human Services. True and correct 8 copies of that email and its attachment are submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 20. The one- 9 page appeal did not specify whether the appeal was directed to the grade from Spring or 10 Summer 2010. The grounds cited for the appeal were alleged "attendance discrepancies 11 and poor grading methods." He requested that "all of [his] assignments be evaluated by 12 the board," but he did not submit any assignments for review. 18. 13 In reply to the August 27, 2010 email, Dean Joshi sent Mr. Demekpe an 14 email that same day acknowledging receipt of the grade appeal, and providing a link to 15 the procedures to be followed. On August 28, 2010, Mr. Demekpe replied, noting that 16 he would be submitting additional information. A true and correct copy of the August 17 27-28,2010 email exchange between Mr. Demekpe and Dr. Joshi is submitted as CSU 18 Exhibit No. 21. 19 19. On September 3, 2010, Mr. Demekpe sent Dr. Joshi another email and 20 attachment in support of the grade appeal. 21 about his grades from both Spring and Summer, listing the different grades he received 22 on each of the class assignments. 20. 23 Mr. Demekpe' s attachment complained On September 13, 2010, Mr. Demekpe sent Dr. Joshi another email and 24 attachment in support of the grade appeal. The attachment purported to be a letter from 25 a former student, Celeste Wilson, noting that when she took HUS 460 class in Summer 26 2009, the instructor offered an extra credit opportunity. The letter was unsigned. True 27 and correct copies of the email and attachment are submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 23. 28 III -4- MSJ: DEC. OF DR. C. "GUS" MARTIN Case No. CVll-1177 DDP (MLG) 21. On September 17, 2010, Jorge Escamilla submitted his written response to 2 the grade appeal. A true and correct copy of that statement is submitted as CSU Exhibit 3 No. 25. 22. 4 On September 20, 2010, Ginger Wilson, the Human Services Program 5 Coordinator, submitted her recommendation on the grade appeal. A true and correct 6 copy is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 26. 23. 7 8 On October 11, 2010, Dr. Joshi sent his written recommendation on the grade appeal. A true and correct copy is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 27. 24. 9 On October 25,2010, I appointed Dr. Noel Sturm, a CSUDH Professor in 10 the Chemistry Department, to serve as the Preliminary Investigator on the grade appeal. 11 I sent her a memorandum describing her duties and enclosing a summary of the student 12 grade appeals policy. True and correct copies of my memorandum and summary are 13 submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 35. 25. 14 Dr. Sturm issued her report on November 3,2010. A true and correct copy 15 is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 39. Her opinion was that the grade appeal should be 16 dropped and not proceed to a formal hearing. 26. 17 The Chair of the Student Grade Appeals Board (Dr. William Whetstone) 18 issued the final decision on December 14, 2010, finding that no cause for a grade appeal 19 existed. A true and correct copy is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 47. That effectively 20 closed the proceedings. 27. 21 It was brought to my attention by faculty and staff that Mr. Demekpe 22 continued to contact them, sometimes using inappropriate language and aggressive 23 tones, during and after the pendency of the appeal. He also pursued discussions with me 24 and the campus President, Dr. Mildred Garcia. He started threatening litigation, so as 25 an informal attempt at resolution, I offered to allow for a re-reading of the appeals file 26 by the Student Grade Appeals Board as it had recently been reconstituted with several 27 new members. 28 III -5- MSJ: DEC. OF DR. C. "GUS" MARTIN Case No. CV11-1177 DDP (MLG) 28. Under a new Chair (Dr. Miguel Dominguez), the Board issued another 2 decision again denying the grade appeal. A true and correct copy of that decision, 3 issued February 15,2011, is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 51. I sent that decision to 4 Mr. Demekpe via email on February 22, 2011. A true and correct copy of my email is 5 submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 52. 6 29. Grade appeal files have a cover page that contains certain information 7 about the file, including the key players. It also contains lines for reviewers to sign 8 if/when they review the file. 9 Demekpe's grade appeal in HUS 460 is submitted as CSU Exhibit No. 53. 10 II A true and correct copy of the file cover for Mr. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that this declaration is true and correct. Signed on October 2011, at Carson, California. 12 13 Dr. Clarence "Gus" Martin 14 ]5 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -6- MSJ: DEC. OF DR. C. "GUS" MARTIN Case No. CVll-1177 DDP (MLG) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PROOF OF SERVICE Demekpe v. Board of Trustees of the California State University U.S. District Court Case No.: CV11-1177 DDP (MLG) OGC No.: 11-0186 I, Jason T. Taylor, declare as follows: I am employed in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. I am at least 18 years old, and not a party to this action. I am an employee of California State University, Office of General Counsel, whose business address is 401 Golden Shore, 4th Floor, Long Beach, CA 90802-4210. 8 9 10 11 12 13 On October 17, 2011, I served the document described as DECLARATION OF DR. CLARENCE “GUS” MARTIN IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT CSU’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT on the interested parties in this action as follows: Tarikh Demekpe 688 Caliburn Drive, #24 Los Angeles, CA 90001 Plaintiff In Pro Per tdemekpe@toromail.csudh.edu Tel: (323) 572-1774 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 BY MAIL—COLLECTION BOX: I placed each document in a sealed envelope with postage fully prepaid, in the California State University Office of General Counsel’s mail collection box in Long Beach, California, so that following ordinary business practices, the envelope would be collected and mailed on this date. I am readily familiar with this office's business practice for collection and processing of mail. In the ordinary course of business, each document would be deposited with the United States Postal Service on that same day. BY E-MAIL: I served each document on the parties by emailing each document in PDF format to each email address listed above. Each e-mail was successfully sent via CSU’s email server. 22 23 Signed on October 17, 2011, at Long Beach, California. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that this declaration is true and correct. 24 25 Jason T. Taylor 26 27 28 MSJ: DEC. OF DR. C. “GUS” MARTIN Case No.: CV11-1177 DDP (MLG)

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