by Beth Lafata Gale
     What makes John Bonnell so controversial is his teaching style.  His class lectures are peppered with those famous four letter words, usually concerning sex; the act of it or the genitalia to accomplish it.  Some have described him as a pervert, some as a champion of First Amendment free speech rights, others will not talk about him at all.

     John Bonnell came to MCC 29 years ago after earning his bachelors and masters in English at the University of Detroit and the University of Michigan, respectively.  Mr. Bonnell says he "loves it here" and has never felt the need to teach elsewhere.
     This self-described class clown says he has always taught this way and maybe tries to emulate the comedian George Carlin, "but to quote a line from the poem 'Ulysses' by Tennyson, I am a compendium of all that I have met," he says.
     One side of Mr. Bonnell is a romantic one, "What I ultimately think that love is, is an experience.  You cannot give an experience merely by describing it or by verbalizing it.  Knowing that, it has never stopped me from still trying to talk about that which cannot be said.
     The secret of love is knowing each other.  Without any hindrance, the other person is wholly revealed to you and you to the other.  Therefore, knowledge then becomes an experience of the other person.  When you get in touch or witness the core reality of someone and that being is witnessing you, that's the moment of love.  It is not a relationship, it's not a feeling, it is a recognition, a fulfillment of knowing the other person besides the sexual way."
     The other side of Professor Bonnell is more cautious, he "doesn't revel in making people uncomfortable.  If the majority of people are squirming in discomfort, for that group I probably would change the behavior.  I would feel badly that the communication about the material wasn't happening because they're hung up on the medium, although I would maintain that the message is the medium."
     In contradiction, he then says that if "you haven't had at least one raunchy English teacher in your college career, you've been cheated.  You gotta have an on-campus pervert and I'm the one in residence here designated to give you that experience," said Mr. Bonnell.
     There have been vocal objections to his use of language, usually from people who are older and feel the need to protect the "youngsters" from his mouth.  They usually start by saying "I'm no prude but…."
     How Mr. Bonnell replies is that, "There is a world of difference between the word "s--t" and the word "feces."  Feces is Latin, it's inert, it's dead, it causes nobody any discomfort to use that word.  S--t is Anglo-Saxon, it's evocative, it makes people respond emotionally.  It doesn't make it to say "Oh feces," if you smash your thumb with a hammer.  "Oh s--t" catches it right on."
     Admittedly, students do not complain directly much, they go to the Dean's office instead.  Mr. Bonnell does feel that most of the students who drop his class are women and that is due to his language.  He says that it is hard to judge his students' reactions because there are no audible gasps or snickers.
     In a no-win situation, Mr. Bonnell has been called a "chauvinist pig," while using the strategy of curbing his speech for women.  They took his actions as condescending and insulting and Mr. Bonnell agrees, "There should not be one mode of speech for one gender and another mode for the other."  He is referring to a MI law that says you cannot use in public, speech deemed offensive to children and women.
     "The implication is that women are children, they are to be protected and shielded.  While some women prefer to maintain phony respect, some take considerable umbrage and find it quite insulting that there is a conscious or unconscious dismissal of them as children."
     Mr. Bonnell is cautious of sexual harassment, "I don't make one-on-one suggestions," said.  "I never want to make a person uncomfortable by bearing the burden of the discussion."
     He has come close to being fired once and not because of his language, but because of letting his students grade themselves.
     Dr. Ruth Reed, the head of the English department and one of the first in the chain of command, refused to discuss Mr. Bonnell, complaints, and/or sexual harassment policy.

What Mr. Bonnell does not want people to know about him is that his "big bug about teaching is that I don't want to be boring, maybe that's true all in life, for most of us at any time."
     "There's a lot of talk in education these days about goals and objectives, the only valid or the most important goal I have each day is to make damn sure I'm not boring," said Mr. Bonnell.