A candidate running in the Nov. 3 election for the Area 4 seat on the Merced College Board of Trustees repeatedly viewed pornographic websites on campus while employed as a professor at the college, public records reveal.
According to the records released by Merced College, Rich Randall, who taught political science at the college for more than two decades, was issued a warning letter by administration in May 2019 for violating the “Acceptable Use” policy by watching “adult” websites. Randall is retired from Merced College but still teaches at Stanislaus State.
“Each time you log-in to your work computer, the Acceptable Use Policy (BP/AP 3720) is displayed and you click ‘OK’ to proceed, which constitutes an initial warning against unacceptable conduct,” the letter stated.
The letter stated college officials issued the warning “given the nature and seriousness of these incidents” and because of the bargaining agreement with the faculty union. It also stated that if Randall didn’t stop, officials may have pursued “additional discipline, up to and including termination.”
Records from the college’s IT department show Randall used at least 20 different pornographic sites that the district classified as “adult” in 2019, from Tuesday, May 21 through Friday, May 24 and again on Sunday, May 26. Time spent on these sites ranged from 10 minutes to two hours and occurred in the morning, middle of the day and night.
In an interview with The Merced FOCUS, Randall confirmed that he knew about the letter, and he admitted to watching porn on his office computer. He also said that after receiving the letter, he stopped.
The records were shared with The Merced FOCUS by a retired Merced college professor, Dan Smith. The letter was sent to Randall’s dean at the time, John Albano.
“I believe in transparency, and I believe that the public should make up their own decision,” Smith said.
During an interview Friday, Randall questioned the reasoning behind the release and sharing of the letter.
“I think the bigger issue here is who was behind this, and why,” Randall said. “Why do they so badly want to engage in a smear to discredit a candidate to get their candidate to win?
…I’m not going to say what I did was right. I shouldn’t have done it, but I think that pales in comparison to the larger elephant in the room.”
Rich Randall
Motive behind releasing warning letter
When Dan Smith, a retired nursing professor, sent in three public records requests to the college in September, he said he wanted to find out more about three candidates: Randall, his opponent Mary Camper, and another candidate from Area 7, Bob Geyer.
All three candidates have taught at the college, so Smith requested employment records. Randall and Camper are running for an area that encompasses north Merced and borders the campus, while the seat Geyer is running for represents areas in and near Planada.
“I’m not asking anybody to vote one way or the other,” Smith said. “People need to vote [with] their conscience. People have a right to disagree. People have a right to support a candidate for whatever their ideological reasonings are.”
The college produced records of Camper and Geyer that consisted only of their employment agreements. But, Smith said, he found Randall’s behavior “disgusting,” in part because he is running for a position that can influence and rewrite policy for the college district.
“This is somebody that is obviously running for a position that not only affects our community, but affects our instructors, affects the employees, and affects the future of kids coming into this school,” Smith said.
“He will be setting policy for the people in high school now and junior high and stuff now, and as a graduate from Merced College, I take that personally.”
Dan Smith
Randall explained to The FOCUS that the incident was a slip in judgement, and he did it to distract himself from his health issues at the time. Six months prior to the letter, he said he developed diabetes, had high blood pressure, and a “heart blockage.”
“I was really, for the first time since I was a young kid, facing my mortality,” Randall said. “And I think I engaged in some escapist behavior.”
When he received the letter, he said he took heed of the warning and never watched porn on campus again.
“It was like a slap in the face,” Randall said. “I was like, ‘What the heck, Rich? Instead of a pity party, you have a damn good life! You have a good job. You have been a faculty leader. You need to knock this off immediately,’ and I did.”
Despite this, Randall said he sees Smith as “a messenger” for someone else who wanted to prevent him from being elected by submitting the request and sharing the records with the news outlet.
With Election Day quickly approaching, he asked voters for a second chance.
“I’m a big believer in second chances for other people, and have always backed second chances,” he said. “I am hoping that voters give me a second chance, and I prove that their trust is well warranted.”
