Saturday, November 14, 2009

Southwestern College scandal over?

Yesterday, Save Our Southwestern College reported the following:

SWC Drops Case Against Suspended Profs Shortly Before Free Speech Protest
At 9:44 am this morning, Acting Superintendent/President Nicholas Alioto issued a message addressed to "the college community," informing us that the District has decided not to pursue criminal charges against Dinorah Guadiana-Costa, Philip Lopez, and Andrew Rempt. In the message, sent to college employees globally via email, Alioto wrote,
"in consultation with the College Police Department, . . . administration has demonstrated its desire to move forward together and the College Police have agreed to discontinue the investigation."
The email came out roughly an hour and fifteen minutes before the start of a Free Speech Rally scheduled to begin at 11:00 am.
The protest continued as planned….

The well-attended rally was marred only by the district's refusal to allow those speaking to use a microphone because the rally fell outside the college's sanctioned "free speech" hours of 11 am-noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Meanwhile, no word yet on how the recent turn of events will affect the letters of reprimand placed in the three professors' files.
My guess: President Chopra is toast.

See also Congressman Filner, ACLU blast college restraint of free speech (the Sun)

Photo: Newport Beach, 1920
Flier: 1937


Laguna Beach, C. 1913

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If your prediction is correct (Chopra is toast), good riddance!

Bob Cosgrove said...

Met a professor from SWC at the Fall Academic Senate meeting in Ontario this weekend. Her reports (her take on the issues) were chilling. But my take was that the faculty, students and some staff and community members rallied round the issues and the faculty. Nice to hear.

Remarkable how some folks restrict speech--11 a.m. to noon on TT and in a space the size of a couple of 8 ft tables. Hallowed ground.

Anonymous said...

Yes; two hours a week for free speech, on a patio. How is it possible that anyone could think for a moment that this met the spirit of the Constitution?

I sincerely hope this guy IS toast.

MAH

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