Thursday, March 16, 2006

Plagues, then and now

Ever hear of two OC community colleges plagued by “hostility, mistrust, cynicism, and despair”?

I'm not talking about NOW. Nope, I'm talking about six years ago.

Today, I happened to run across an old Dissent article that revealed striking parallels between conditions then and conditions now.

And it's not just the "plague of despair" either. It's the defiance. As you know, Mr. Fuentes has expressed contempt for the Accrediting agency and its authority over the board. Everybody is rushing to give the Accreds what they want--everybody, that is, but Mr. Fuentes, who thinks that outside agencies--whether here or in Sacramento--have no business setting the board's agenda.

Here's an example from a February board meeting in which the topic of responding to the Accrediting agency's recommendations is discussed. The speakers are Trustee Lang, Chancellor Mathur, and then finally Trustee Fuentes:

this is an audio post - click to play

Well, a similar spirit of defiance prevailed on the board six years ago. Back then, faculty were pressing for meetings between constituency groups to overcome tensions as per the Accred's recommendations. But the board--or at least its Majority--resisted.

The 1999 BOT was dominated by Fortune, Williams, Wagner, and Padberg. Faculty were represented by Anne Cox and Peter Morrison.

Just click on the link below. (The article is in the Archives.)

You might want to skip down to the second half, which presents a glorious shouting match between Anne Cox--then the Saddleback College Academic Senate President--and Dorothy Fortune (the "Bumptious One"), who then reigned as board president.

LINK

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...