The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show

     We’ve been talking with more veterans on campus. And we’ve reached out to various others, including Minkler himself.
     One fellow, an active member of the vet community at IVC for some time, offered this picture: that the prominent players among vets are “good guys,” though some do have rough edges. A few are not without “ego,” evidently. For this and other reasons there have been some tensions and conflicts.
     On the other hand, such difficulties have not precluded the formation and persistence of a fairly close vet community, a group that enjoys genuine camaraderie.
     We asked: How do you feel about IVC administration?
     This vet is pretty cynical. The administration, he says, seem always to use the vets for “dog and pony shows.” They’re always smiling at us and showing us off at events, but one gets the distinct impression that they’re mostly about good press, photo ops.
     They do seek to attract more veterans in the competition for them with other schools. But they don’t seem to understand that lots of vets need more than an office to pick up forms. Especially combat vets.

Glenn leads by example.

     Our vet seemed to say that, where the rubber meets the road, IVC’s administration doesn’t seem to care much about IVC vets. And, now, things are pretty f*cked up.
     What about Minkler? What do you make of him?
     He’s a "snake," said our vet.
     And President Roquemore?
     Our vet has been observing the situation for some time. He offered this assessment: Roquemore seems to want to be the guy who comes around to smile and shake hands. But he hires people who seem to do dirty work. He obviously wants that work to get done. But he doesn’t want to do it himself.
     He mentioned Fontanilla.
     What about Darryl Cox?
     Loved ‘im. All the vets loved ‘im.
     Have you spoken with him about his getting axed?
     Nope. They (HR?) told us that we weren’t ever to communicate with Darryl. They told him the same thing.
     And Darryl’s shit is still sitting on his desk.
     As we’ve reported recently, there are those, including reliable sorts, who know Minkler and who have a favorable impression of him.
     Nevertheless, he’s been moved out of the Veterans Service Center and located elsewhere. Why?
     You’d think we’d hear from administration. Some kind of explanation.
     Well no. It’s IVC, Jake. Expect to hear nothing.

Nobody could find parking.
There was a dog and pony show. The dog seemed ambivalent.
A disturbing silence permeated the grounds.
Inexplicably, a helicopter appeared.
Nothing was explained; no one was warned.
Eventually, the dog wandered home, having been abandoned
on the grounds with an old biscuit and a surly cat.

The “Fubar” series:

• The Veterans Center FUBAR, Part 1 — or "Why do the Veterans hate the veterans' counselor?"*
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 2: protection!
• The Veterans Center FUBAR, part 3: a room of one’s own
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 4: another side?
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 5: administration's dog and pony show
• The Veterans Center fubar, part 6: the "other side" re Mark Minkler