An administrator is fired. Over cake.

     This morning, Irvine Valley College was abuzz with news that the Dean of Mathematics, Sciences and Engineering, Kathleen Schrader, had been fired. This morning, campus cops showed up at her office, told her to gather her things, and then escorted her off campus.
     There’s nothing special about that. Unheralded firings have occurred before at IVC.
     Here’s what’s special. Evidently, the proximate cause of Schrader’s canning was her failure to clamp down on, or her permitting, an outbreak of “unprofessional” jocularity at last Friday’s meeting of the School of Life Sciences, over which Schrader presided. During that meeting, someone mentioned the upcoming opening of the new chemistry labs. As is so often the case in this district, the event would feature a cake.
     The cake, faculty were told, was to be provided by Kiana Tabibzadeh, a chemistry instructor.
     Kiana is held in low esteem by some faculty at the college, in part owing to her reputation for unapologetically exploiting her, um, influence. Evidently, in other ways, too, she does not leave the best of impressions as a colleague and educator.
     Kiana Tabibzadeh, of course, is President Glenn Roquemore’s wife.
     On Friday, someone said: "Don't wanna eat a Kiana cake." That sort of thing. Har har. There were maybe eight people in the room.
     Dean Schrader did not encourage the impromptu jocularity. Possibly, she joined in the laughter. She eventually said something to discourage it.
     In any case, it was a fleeting episode about cake—one that briefly tapped into a widely-shared scorn of an arrogant and, well, notorious colleague.
     No big deal.
     Oddly, that meeting was tape recorded by the school secretary, a woman known to be VPI Craig Justice’s eyes and ears in Schrader’s office. At some point after the meeting, the secretary brought the recording to President Roquemore (or VPI Justice). Then, this morning, Roquemore fired Schrader.
     Schrader is well-liked by at least some of her faculty—the Bio people love her because she’s smart and direct, a former nurse who is used to working among people who need and expect the unvarnished truth. Certainly some of her colleagues know and love her. She is admired for her honesty. She's a good person, I'm told.
     But Dean Schrader is not among administration’s favorites. Her direct superior, Vice President of Instruction Craig Justice, a fellow who demands obeisance from underlings, told her that her honest and direct style, which she exhibits at administrative meetings, was not appreciated.
     Schraeder knew that her contract would not be renewed, but it had not run out yet. No doubt, she counted on being able to finish out her time at IVC.

* * * * *

Glenn and Kiana

     Today, as word of Schrader’s sacking spread, I encountered many amused or horrified faculty and staff. Most were upset at Justice and, especially, Roquemore. They reminded me of the latter fellow’s history of suspect conduct re the delicate circumstance that his wife works at the college over which he presides.
     The most commonly repeated story concerns Kiana’s hiring a dozen or so years ago. Glenn was on the hiring committee. Some on the hiring committee were unimpressed by Kiana. Notoriously, Glenn championed her cause. She was hired.
     He was also dating her at the time. Or so I’ve been assured numerous times by persons claiming to be in the know.
     Today, I briefly spoke with a former IVC Affirmative Action officer. He told me that he had brought this episode up with then-Chancellor Lombardi, who said he’d deal with it. But, of course, nothing was done.
     I recall an incident seven or eight years ago in which it was learned that Kiana was engineering her selection as “Teacher of the Year.” (I was an officer in the Senate at the time.) She had instructed her students to submit the required glowing letters. We couldn’t believe it. That time, the scheme was undone, owing to forceful objections from the Academic Senate.
     Ever since Raghu Mathur’s ascendancy to administration in 1997, the very worst among us have been protected, repeatedly and consistently. Kiana’s abuses are perhaps small compared to some. For instance, some notorious senior instructors routinely behave unprofessionally toward female students. I don’t know many seasoned instructors who have not heard the complaints from students. Oddly, these instructors--some of whom remain noisily unrepentant--persist in their misconduct with impunity.

* * * * *

     Administrators who have attempted to end the abuses have met with, well, resistance or worse from above. Pushing back against these administrative reformers is a de facto IVC policy. Mathur initiated it; Glenn has continued it.

     An administrator told me this story: sometimes, evidently, Kiana will hole up in her office during her office hours and refuse to see students who are waiting to speak with her.

     One such time, her dean knocked on Kiana's door herself. There was no answer.

     Later in the day, the VPI (pre-Justice) visited that dean, explaining to her that, according to Kiana's husband (i.e., Roquemore), the dean's door-knocking had caused Kiana a “near nervous breakdown”!
     Evidently, efforts to have Kiana actually hold office hours were verboten, owing to Kiana's delicate nerves.

     I’m reminded of the World of Sh*t that former VPI Terry Burgess got into when, during the beginning of Mathur’s presidency (c. 1997-8), he attempted to put an end to Math instructors’ “large lecture” scam. One instructor in particular was notorious for teaching classes with massive enrollments, which yielded for him correspondingly massive compensation. Math Boy would wait until immediately after the census date (the date at which student heads are counted for accounting—and compensation—purposes) to give a test. The test and his grading then pretty much cleared the room of students. He’d spend the rest of the semester teaching a small class of students, but he received spectacular compensation.
     The same instructor would teach accelerated courses that met in 2 ½ hour sessions. Math Boy would lecture for an hour, ask students for comments, and when they produced none, he’d dismiss the class early. Each time. (Mathur, as an instructor, was notorious for similar practices.)
     Some of these abuses continue to this day.

     More recently, Susan Cooper became the dean of this benighted zone of IVC instructors. She soon discovered the then-traditional abuses, including a series of manifestly hinky scheduling practices enforced by their beneficiary, Kiana Tabibzadeh. Cooper was determined to put a stop to that nonsense, but, to the degree that she pressed the matter, to that degree she experienced ferocious push-back from Glenn, who made her life miserable. In the end, she found it necessary to leave the college.
     Not long ago, I had lunch with a former IVC administrator. He or she informed me that Kiana’s father has been working at IVC for years (admittedly, in some minor role as a test proctor or something similar)--this despite Mr. Fuentes' occasional noisy (albeit hypocritical) accusations of nepotism at the colleges.
     Some of us have complained about these abuses for many years. I recall arranging to meet with newly-elected trustee Don Wagner in late 1998. I had lunch with him at a restaurant across the street from the college. Among other things, I described some of the abuses mentioned above.
     Well, I guess he didn’t believe me. Absolutely nothing was done about them.

* * * * *

     At 4:00 today, I was still on campus, and so I headed over to the grand opening of the new Chemistry complex way over on the south-east end of campus.
     It was the usual thing: guest politicians, gratuitous presentations of uniformed soldiers, inane or pointless speeches, the Pledge of Allegiance, 35 folding chairs, and Kiana.
     Also: cake. It was OK, I guess. It was tan, with a blue fringe of icing. On its large rectagular top was an icing-photo of the new complex.
     I pointed at the photo. “Can you eat this?” I asked. Dotty Sherling was there. “Yes,” she said.
     I left.