Full circle

Well, IVC’s Vice President of Instruction, Dennis White, is toast after all.

On Wednesday, Dennis requested 15 minutes at the start of Thursday's Academic Senate meeting. He wanted to make an announcement. Obviously, he was going to announce his toasthood.

I’m a senator, and so I went to the meeting (yesterday) as per usual. But I brought my camera. As I entered, I saw Dennis. He looked dapper, as always. He stood off to the side while the usual pre-meeting hustle and bustle murmured. The room was fuller than usual. I spotted a few administrators, including several deans.

I usually sit in front, but, this time, I decided I’d better sit off to the side to take a picture. (It won’t do to flash a camera right into a person’s face.) People kept trailing in. At one point, I counted well over 30 people.

A few minutes after 2:00, Wendy started the meeting. We went through the usual preliminaries, and then we got to “public comments.” Dennis was asked to make his remarks. He got up to speak. He faced a friendly audience.

Dennis jovially explained that this was the last day he’d be wearing a suit. He reminded us of his first day on campu nearly four years agos: he wore a pink shirt and a pretty flower, which probably sent signals that he had not intended. No matter: he decided that, for today, he’d wear that same shirt—to “come full circle.”

He offered many words of praise for his colleagues in the college community. He noted the collegiality that now characterizes governance at IVC—a huge improvement over three years ago.

He’s right about that. And, undoubtedly, Dennis can take some of the credit for it.

He spoke of our college’s great potential. It can be the best community college in the state, he said, with some passion.

He said he wanted to mention a few individuals in particular. He thanked Greg B, the Senate President when Dennis arrived, who made a real effort to help the new VPI get up to speed. He thanked Bill H, who has always given wise advice and who, he said, has become a good friend. He thanked Dotty S, the director of our Honors Program, noting how extraordinarily well he and Dotty worked together.


To my surprise, he thanked yours truly. He referred slyly to the Dissent, which, he said, administrators read, whether or not they will admit to it.

He thanked Kathy S, chair of the Curriculum Committee, for her guidance and leadership.

He seemed to offer a very special “thank you” to Wendy G, our Senate Prez, “the most special person on campus,” and a “super gal.” Those of us who have worked with Wendy in the Senate know that she has worked very hard for the good of the college and that, over the last three years, she has come to trust and rely on Dennis and to regard him as a friend.

Smiling, Dennis recalled the early months of his tenure, when he decided to issue some unusual guidelines (i.e., prohibitions) for instructors regarding discussions of the war in the classroom. The sh*t really hit the fan that time.

When reporters and TV crews were on the IVC lawn looking for people to interview, he spotted Wendy wearing her usual casual teaching duds. Off she went somewhere. An hour or so later (said Dennis), when reporters asked again if anyone had anything to say about the “discussion ban,” why, there was Wendy, in a very telegenic black outfit with white pearls. She just happened to drop by, and, yes, as a matter of fact she did have something to say about that issue!

When he arrived, said Dennis, he promised that he would try to put IVC on an “international scale.” Six weeks later, he did. We laughed.

Dennis also praise Gwen, who is like a sister to him and who became his “sounding board.” He praised the deans, the “finest anywhere.” He praised his staff, whom he called his “foundation.”

He thanked his "gal" and family.

“It’s been a fun run,” he said. It's also been by far the “most challenging” time of his career.

He thanked us again, and left.

When he referred to me, he mentioned the night, four years ago, when he was appointed by the board. He described how I had spoken to him and filled him in on all the “bad things” about the district.

Well, maybe so. Back in 2003, in Dissent, I wrote about that moment in this way:

Who is this “Dennis White” anyway?

Why, he’s our dapper new VP of Instruction. I recall first meeting Dennis, last November, outside Saddleback’s Library 104, on the night of his appointment. He seemed like a nice guy, so I apprised him of the recent history of our district.

When I finished, he paused; he thunk; he assured me that he wouldn’t do anything indecent or illegal.

I said: “I hate to break it to you, but if you’re a decent guy, you’ll be gone within a year.”

Well, I was wrong. —He lasted nearly four years.

(Dennis will remain employed by the district until the end of December. His last day on the job will be a week from today.)