COSTA MESA – Orange Coast College will lift its suspension and other sanctions against a student who secretly video-recorded an instructor making anti-Trump statements.

The Coast Community College District Board of Trustees agreed during a special meeting Thursday “to bring closure” into the case involving freshman Caleb O’Neil and the instructor he recorded, Olga Perez Stable Cox.

“The board believes this is in the interest of fairness and equity for all,” says a statement released Thursday.

“It is time to move forward with increased empathy and understanding of the differences that have (existed) and will exist on a campus filled with individuals from an array of backgrounds who bring with them a wide range of political views, religious affiliations and ideals,” it said. “This is part of what makes OCC great.”

O’Neil’s November recordings of Cox calling the election of Donald Trump “an act of terrorism” in her human sexuality class was widely seen online and on conservative TV shows after the school’s College Republicans posted the video clips.

Cox, an instructor with the community college for 42 years, received angry and threatening emails, prompting her to temporarily leave her home. Leaders of the College Republicans said they were also hit by a barrage of angry email.

The community college and its district, meanwhile, received thousands of calls and letters from across the country since the video clips became public in December, and more again since last week, when news surfaced that the student faced a suspension.

Before being re-admitted following the two-term suspension, he was to apologize and write a three-page essay about the incident. It is against district policy to record in a classroom without permission. O’Neil appealed last week and has been attending classes.

“I’m so happy right now,” said O’Neil, 19, a member of the college’s rowing team. “I’m just happy I can row and go to school. It’s great news.”

The instructor’s comments were going to be reviewed, but that issue is now over as well.

The Coast Federation of Educators, which represents Cox and the district’s faculty, “is deeply disappointed” that administrators have “capitulated to individuals and groups who threatened and bullied students, faculty, and administration,” wrote Rob Schneiderman, president of the local union, in a statement released Thursday.

“Faculty and students are less likely to explore controversial issues, guest speakers are hesitant to present on campus, and students giving presentations are concerned that they may be cyber-bullied,” Schneiderman wrote.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or rkopetman@scng.com