The May board meeting: Fuentes wants to "go after" prayer plaintiffs

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.....Gonna make this quick. I’ll have more details tomorrow. (See also Tracy's board meeting highlights.)
.....Marcia Milchiker announced that the dependable and popular Dixie Bullock was appointed interim Chancellor. She’ll start July 1. People cheered.
.....Normally, during the passing of “resolutions” (about the wonderfulness of, say, the successful women's tennis team) the board Prez and the Chancellor do the presenting together over by the podium off to the right. Tonight, however, Don Wagner presented alone. As he walked to the podium, he said, “the chancellor has declined to join me.” It appeared that this was Mathur’s choice, not Wagner’s.
.....Mathur's hostility toward board President Wagner was palpable. Mathur appeared disgruntled throughout the meeting. At one point, his hostility flared hideously, as I will later explain.
.....Two students made public comments opposing the board’s practice of prayer/invocations. One of these students appeared to be Middle Eastern.
.....The faculty plaintiffs of the “Westphal” invocation complaint read a statement, urging the board not to spend more money defending their actions, etc. (We all stood together; Margot and Claire took turns reading the 4-minute statement.)
.....Tom Fuentes mentioned the recent celebration of Raghu Mathur’s career and alleged contributions to education. Naturally, it was held at the Balboa Bay Club and Center for the Advancement of Rich Assholes. I am confident that most people in the room viewed the event as some sort of joke or perverse ritual of power. As Tom spoke, the Twilight Zone theme could be heard, faintly. Or maybe it was the Outer Limits.
.....Trustees fell all over themselves praising the recent Veterans Memorial opening, which, by all accounts, was very successful and well-attended. Dave Lang felt the need to explain why he did not attend. At that moment, he said, he was in Washington, D.C. introducing Congressman Ed Royce at a dinner.
.....He said this as though it were not obvious to everyone in the room that he was in Washington to promote his political career. As you know, Mr. Lang would even betray his supporters for a chance at grabbing the brass ring. He tells voters that he has "integrity."
.....Mathur introduced the new student trustee, Eve, who seemed nice. Mathur declared that he was all over her (mentoring and such) and he has determined (he said forcefully) that she is “one heck of a person.”
.....We stared at him.

ATEP discussion tabled to avoid pesky goo

.....The discussion item (4.1) concerned the inevitable ATEP. The Saddleback College Academic Senate President, Bob C, had prepared a report and a letter. (I believe that he produced the report with Carmen D, the incoming Senate Prez.) The letter presented a recent SC Academic Senate action: to ask the board to commission a cost study before moving forward with ATEP. (To read the letter, go here.)
.....The idea seems to be that ATEP is an enormous money pit.
.....The letter mentioned such factoids as that, since 1999, the district has spent at least $23 million on ATEP. That is likely a very conservative figure. The net amount "committed to" ATEP is at least $46 million (it is probably much higher).
.....ATEP’s mission, says the letter, has changed 4 times in fewer than 8 years.
.....Several trustees (Milchiker, Padberg, et al.) sought to table 4.1 until July—perhaps because they did not want Mathur to have a significant voice in the discussion (he would likely defend pursuing a grander ATEP, i.e., he badly wants his Mt. Goomore).
.....4.1 was tabled, with Fuentes and Lang voting to the contrary. (Lang takes orders well, doesn't he?)

$2 million for legal defense re "Westphal"?

.....Item 6.2 was a recommendation concerning how to spend $13 million of basic aid money. As you know, included on the list of 6.2's proposed expenditures is $2 million for the district’s defense against the “Westphal” invocation complaint.
.....Marcia succeeded in dividing the question: the legal defense part was separated.

.....When they got to that matter, Marcia declared that she would vote against this expenditure. She noted the areas of great need throughout the district: counseling, etc. It sounded pretty grim. Under the circumstances, spending so much money defending trustee prayer didn’t make sense to her.
.....Most trustees, however, seemed inclined to vote in favor of the expenditure. They argued that setting aside this amount did not mean that it would be spent. Marcia spoke again, noting that, if we set aside a chunk of money for some purpose, then we’ll spend it all. Be realistic.

Fuentes wants to "go after" prayer plaintiffs

.....Finally, Fuentes spoke. He said that he supports setting aside these funds. It is the only responsible thing to do, he said. He declared that the district will win the case. He hoped that the district will pursue the defense “with all aggressive action that we can take.”
.....And then he said: he hoped that the district will “go after those who have caused” the district to defend itself in the courts. There was no doubt who those persons were. They had just addressed the board.
.....This was said with typical Fuentean sternness and unpleasantness. To me, it sounded like a threat against the "Westphal" plaintiffs. I was amazed. I was equally amazed that none of the trustees seemed to react to Fuentes’ curious statement. (Not sure about Marcia.)
.....I was stunned.
.....Luckily, board meetings are videotaped. In a few days, we can all see for ourselves exactly what Mr. Fuentes said and the manner in which he said it. [UPDATE: I'm told that the video should be up some time tomorrow, i.e., Wednesday.] The plaintiffs in "Westphal" include instructors, students, and members of the community. Fuentes wants to “go after” them.
.....Amazing.
.....Watcha gonna do?
.....Naturally, Fuentes imagines that the “Westphal” plaintiffs are mere wrongdoers, criminals. One should take stern action against them, of course, just as one should take stern action against thieves or murderers (or illegal immigrants!).
.....How can he be so dense? Naturally, the complaint itself is based on the plaintiffs’ sincere belief that the district has wronged them and those they represent—by imposing religion upon them, contrary to the values of our Constitution, which proscribes governmental establishment of religion. They did not suddenly sue the district: there had been discussions and efforts at comprise for years. (Why not a moment of silence?)
.....Then the district started showing "Jesus" videos.
.....Fuentes cannot understand this. He is a bully. He's about taking out the enemy, by hook or by crook. He’s about as ugly a person, morally, as I have ever encountered. Yep, worse than Mathur.

Mathur gets ugly, seems to make accusations

.....Later, there was a remarkably ugly episode involving Don Wagner and Raghu Mathur: their hatred for each other (or at least Mathur’s hatred for Wagner) suddenly flashed forth for all to see. In the course of a discussion about new hires, in which it was noted that the HR chief’s wife was hired for a job (because, we were assured, she was by far the committee's first choice), Mathur oddly spurt forth that two complaints about inappropriate action had come to him about that administrator. Inappropriate actions? Many in the audience were dumbstruck. These were stunning things to say at a public meeting. They were serious allegations.
.....Wagner stopped Mathur. Are you saying, here in a public meeting, he asked, that this man engaged in inappropriate actions?
.....Mathur refused to answer. “I stand by what I said.” Wagner wanted a simple “yes” or “no” answer.
.....He asked again. Mathur slithered anew.
.....Wow, it was way ugly. Mathur had lost it. He had crossed a line. Wagner gave a "so be it" look and then proceeded with the rest of the meeting.

Fuentes makes like Joe McCarthy

.....Later, during the discussion of the report on nepotism (the wrongful favoring of relatives in hires) and related employees, things got ugly again. I’ll say more about that tomorrow. But here’s the thing you’ve got to know: in this country, at least at a public institution, you can’t discriminate against somebody who wants a job just because they happen to be related to somebody somewhere in the organization. So says the law—and SOCCCD policy. In fact, there are no clear instances of nepotism that anyone can identify at the SOCCCD (according to Bugay's report, given known facts), and the rate of “related employees” in the SOCCCD is actually lower than the norm.
.....None of this mattered to Mr. Fuentes, who had no interest in facts or logic. He yammered about the taxpayers. He was tossing red meat. He had blood in his eyes.
.....Fuentes, like his hero the late Richard Nixon, is the kind of guy who lives in a world, not of opponents, but of enemies. He knows who his enemies are and he is determined to go after them.
.....He is the world’s ugliest man.
.....Why is he in a position of power and authority?

The Reg covers our commencements

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Reg caption: "Graduating student and professor Carmenmara Hernandez-Bravo holds a sign, protesting against the prayer during commencement."

.....• Graduates celebrate Irvine Valley Colleges 25th commencement (May 24)

.....• Saddleback College graduates almost 1,300 (May 23)

.....• IVC Commencement: platitudinous and sans hitch (May 22; DtB)

.....• The district's photos (May 25)

.....Evidently, the Reg photographer noticed protests at Saddleback College re our board's imposition of religion on the community.

IVC

Reg caption: "During the prayer at the Saddleback commencement, professors silently protest by holding up signs to "respect everyone's beliefs."

REPRISE (our very own "sideways story," starring Tom Fuentes as "Smokey" or "The Man in Black"):

Judging by his campaign video, John Williams is an idiot

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.....Here's John Williams' campaign video.
.....He's a clever one, that John Williams. In the video, he explains that, for seventeen years, he's been on the "Saddleback College Board." (See above.)
.....You'd think after all these years the fellow would know that the SOCCCD comprises Irvine Valley College, too, and not just Saddleback College. This has been true, of course, since 1985, when IVC became an autonomous college. (Between 1979-1985, the facility was an off-site location of Saddleback College.)
.....Check out Williams' campaign website here. If cornball patriotism were intelligence, Williams would be a very different man.

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.....I did a little research. The board changed the name of the district from the "Saddleback Community College District" to the "South Orange County Community College District" in  March of 1997.
.....The trustee who suggested this particular name (i.e., SOCCCD) was John Williams.
.....At the time, some trustees opposed the change. Some opposed the new name. Trustee Joan Heuter noted that the district comprises Tustin and Irvine, and neither city is considered part of South OC.
.....She did not prevail.

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.....According to the Lariat (4/10/97),

In a survey of 47 faculty, staff and community members by the district public information office, 17 said they did not want the name changed. ¶ Results from a Lariat survey in February indicated 50 percent of students opposed the change, with 12 percent supporting the new name as an option. ¶ Student government polls found 97 percent of Saddleback students and 75 percent of Irvine Valley students opposed the change.

.....The district has never been called "Saddleback College."

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.....According to the district,

In the planning stages, the district was referred to as the South Coast Junior College District. At its March 13, 1967 meeting, the board named the new district Saddleback Junior College District…. Saddleback College was officially named by action of the board on February 26, 1968.…

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.....There are four candidates for OC Public Administrator. In her campaign, Colleen Callahan has noted Williams’ incompetence and unsuitability. Her campaign video is here. Her campaign website is here.

Meanwhile, in Arizona...

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Professor Sandra Soto was the faculty speaker at the graduation convocation last week for the University of Arizona's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Check out what happens when her remarks turn to the recent laws enacted in Arizona at about 45 seconds in.

(See this morning's Inside Higher Ed.)

excerpt:

Marisol LeBron, a Ph.D. student in American studies at New York University, said in a blog post that a majority of those weighing in have been "advancing the idea that universities and institutions of higher education should be depoliticized places where one goes to learn objective truths. Meanwhile, if you ask me, it's pretty inappropriate for an audience for presumably educated adults to boo a woman of letters."

LeBron added that the incident is typical of the way minority scholars are treated: "They get shouted down and told that they're advancing a narrow agenda or only telling half the story. The events that transpired were truly shameful, but unfortunately are becoming more common than not on college campuses. I applaud the stand that Soto and other educators in Arizona are taking despite the attempts to silence them. As Professor Soto urges us, we must fight for public education."

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