George H. Peranteau

George Herbert Peranteau enrolled as an evening student in Drexel Institute of Technology (a.k.a. Drexel University) in 1953 to pursue his interest in electro-chemical engineering, during which time he worked as a chemical and electro-chemical technician. After two years additional years at Pennsylvania State University, Loumeau completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, then continued on to earn his Master's degree in English by 1960. Afterward, he relocated to Los Angeles to undertake postgraduate study in the Department of English at UCLA and became a graduate assistant in the Division of Vocational Education, where he assisted UCLA's Director of the Division of Vocational Education, Melvin L. Barlow, Ed.D., in the writing of three reports for the California State Department’s Bureau of Industrial Education.

By 1966, Peranteau had satisfactorily completed 35 semester hours of graduate study at two separate universities and had already obtained a Master's Degree from the University of Chicago, all of which qualified him to teach college-level English. Consequently, when he was offered a tenure-track position at Grossmont College that year, he was well qualified to do so and little pressure remained to complete his course of graduate study at UCLA.

Within a year, however, Peranteau was forced to resign his position at the college in response to trustees who held him and three other colleagues—including another recent English Department hire, Harold J. Loumeau—responsible for allowing underage students to drink beer and wine at a March 1967 retreat at Camp Marsten. Except for the 450 signatures on a petition authored by El Cajon’s Dr. George Brown, the general public seems to have treated the so-called scandal as much ado about nothing. One or two Los Angeles newspapers gave the story a couple of column inches on a back page, but there is otherwise a paucity of San Diego media coverage about it. On campus, colleagues, students and editors of the campus newspaper supported the four teachers and expressed outrage over the Governing Board’s decision. Peranteau, Loumeau and the other resignees even had the backing of the California Teachers Association and the American Federation of Teachers, all of which criticized the Governing Board's call for resignation as “too severe a punishment in the circumstances.” As a farewell to the District, George published in the campus newspaper an impassioned defense of himself and his fellow resignees, weighing the morality of the Governing Board and Dr. George Brown against the vocational sincerity of the instructors held responsible for alleged acts of moral turpitude.  “In short, “ said Peranteau, “the board knows the husk and shadow of education, but not its soul, not its substance, not its reality….Lacking understanding, the board necessarily lacks commitment. One cannot commit one’s self to vagueness. And if to have principle means firmly to be committed to an idea one understands, the board does not have principles.” The trustees did not relent, and, by July of 1967, ten additional Grossmont College instructors resigned, many in protest over the Governing Board's willingness to sacrifice faculty for the sake of politics.

By the fall of the same year, Peranteau landed on his feet and was back in the classroom as a full-time English and Communications Department staff member at the College of DuPage in Illinois. He remained at the College of DuPage until his retirement in the mid 1990s, whereupon the College of DuPage trustees awarded him the status of Professor Emeritus. During his lengthy tenure at DuPage, Peranteau is memorialized for his scholarship, his gentle advocacy for just causes, and his diverse literary interests, including Sufi literature.¹

After retirement, Professor Emeritus George H. Peranteau continued teaching for a time at a university in Kyrgyzstan and settled in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Heartfeld appreciation to

• Professor Daniel Kies of the College of DuPage for graciously helping to provide information and advice about further researching George Peranteau;
• Archivist Jenny Dunbar, whose above-and-beyond assistance lead to the high quality images of George Peranteau used with permission on this page; and,
• Dr. William Benton Whisenhunt, for his detailed and enjoyably illustrated history of College of DuPage, as well as for graciously redirecting me to the College of DuPage's official Archivist.

Many, many thanks!

• Peranteau, George. Two Poems ("Ansel at a Conference Once" and "Ansel Drove the Sun"). The Prairie Light Review 10.2 (Spring/Summer 1991): 40, 42.
• _____. "Let’s Rename Worst Roads, 'Governor Walker Boulevard.'" Letter to the Editor. The Cap Times (Madison, WI) 20 April 2018. Online. 
• _____. “‘Ignorance, Sentimentality, Practicality, Cruelty.’” The G 31 May 1967: p2.

• Barlow, Melvin L.  LA Survey of Junior College Work Experience Education Programs 1962-63. Sacramento, CA: California University, Los Angeles/Bureau of Industrial Education, State Department of Education, 1963.
• Barlow, Melvin L. and William J. Schill. The Role of the Physical Sciences in Electrical-Electronic Technology. Progress Report. Sacramento, CA: California Univ., Los Angeles California State Dept. Of Education, 1965.
  “Board Rejects Plea To Reinstate Teachers.” The G (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 10 May 1967: p1.
• “4 Instructors Resign; Student Drinking Cited.” The G (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 14 April 1967: p1.
• "From the Library." The Daily Herald (Chicago, IL) 26 February 1975: p36.
• Grossmont College Institutional Archives. Learning Resource Center. Grossmont College, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.
• "NIU to Sponsor Daylong Symposium for Teachers." The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, IL) 3 May 1978: p19.
• "Peranteau, George." Blue and Gold Yearbook, Class of 1953. Wyndmoor, PA: La Salle College High School, 1953. p51
• Sabbatical Leave Master List. DuPage, IL: College of DuPage, 2018.
• Sousa, Joyce. "Charge Coverage 'All Out of Proportion’ on Security Gun Issue." Criticize. The Courier 4 December 1975: p3.
• "Sufi Readings [hosted by George Peranteau]." Events calendar post. The Courier 22 January 1976: p2.
• "Teachers Quit in Retreat Beer Row." Star News (Los Angeles, CA) 12 April 1967: p3
• "Teachers Resign." Press-Telegram (Long Beach, California) 12 April 1967: np.
• "3 Teachers, Administrator Hired for DuPage College." The Roselle Register (Roselle, IL) 12 July 1967: p4.
• Whisenhunt, William Benton and Kay Braulik. Learning Is the Greatest Adventure: A History of the College of Dupage, 1966-2006. Glen Ellyn, IL: College of DuPage, 2007.
• Wilson Brown, Noberta, R.N., M.S. and Melvin L. Barlow, Ed.D. Improving Instruction In Vocational Nursing: Action-Research Using the Small Group Method. Second Report: Evaluation. Sacramento, CA: California Univ., Los Angeles California State Dept. Of Education, 1964.

• Fidelia Dickinson (hired summer 1966, quit by Sep. 1966)
• George M. Peranteau 1966-1968* (terminated)
• Harold Loumeau 1966-1968* (terminated)
• Robert E. Moore 1966-1981 (Chair 1969-1970)
• C. Frank Vittor 1966-1982 (Chair 1970-1972)
• Vesta Penrod Gibbs 1966-1983
• Judith C. Barkley 1966-1999
• Glenn A. Lane, II 1967-1991
• Stanford T. Carlson 1967-1991
• Frederick J. Stollenwerk 1967-1999 (Chair 1972-1974)