We should all be concerned by the lack of due process that some students are affording women's basketball coach Rene Portland ("HUB rally protests coach," Oct. 19).

The Student Stonewall Coalition is demanding that Portland be fired, even before an investigation has begun.

Meanwhile, the only fact that has been established is that one disgruntled former player, someone who never lodged a complaint while here at Penn State, has made an allegation through a lesbian-rights organization and is threatening to sue Penn State.

The former student has the right to have her complaint investigated, but let's not forget the civil rights of our women's basketball coach.

I'm disappointed that people who claim to fight for civil rights are so quick to deny Portland hers. In America, after all, people are innocent until proven guilty.

Due process, not character assassination, is the ethical course of action. Due process, not mob rule, will protect the civil rights of everyone involved.