Years from now, when scholars and citizens look back at this low point in Southwestern College's history, they will talk about "the wave off," Dr. Raj K. Chopra's flippant dismissal of a question that effectively brought an end to a "town hall meeting" called to foster communication. His ironic message could not have been any clearer even if he had given Professor Jackie Thomas the finger, which is essentially what he did.
Just when it seems that SWC's fortunes could not sink any lower, they have. January was one for the ages. First, SWC was put on probation by the government agency that decides whether the college can continue to receive government funding, transfer classes and issue degrees. Then the college faculty released an evaluation of the superintendent that can only be described as devastating. Nearly 90 percent of the grades given to the 60 questions by 160 proffessors were an F. Chopra and the board have been almost completely silent about both issues.
Well at least Nick Alioto is saying something. SWC's volatile and potty-mouthed vice president of fiscal services dropped the F-bomb at a governing board meeting.
Chopra and the board majority that slavishly supports him have said practically nothing about the fact that SWC leadership has been told in no uncertain terms that it needs to end its era of dysfunction or the state will end it for them. Visiting administrators from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) have found what the rest of us have suffered through for nearly two-and-a-half years now - a poorly-managed college with toxic relationships, violations of the state law requiring shared governance and an institution of higher learning that is out of step with the realities of the 21st century. Southwestern has descended to a humiliating new low, one step away from the brink of losing its accreditation and being dissolved as Compton Community College was in June 2006.
Chopra has been remarkably cavalier about recent events. He called a "town meeting" - a debriefing for the campus community required by WASC - to announce the findings and answer questions. His performance borders on dereliction of duty. He spent barely four minutes talking about the WASC report, a patronizing little speech where he urged college employees to regard the findings as a "glass half full." Socrates was once given a glass half full, too, only it was half full of hemlock. Chopra's perfunctory "briefing" and call for teamwork and better communication ended with a classic Chopra moment. Asked by Professor Thomas how she could trust that he was committed to improving the campus climate, Chopra, who had already sat down, dismissed her question with a backhanded wave off gesture that was part "whatever" and part "get screwed."
Board President Yolanda Salcido has done little to distinguish herself in this crisis. Accreditation was barely mentioned at the last governing board meeting. There has been no meaningful announcement or explanation to the media…oh, that's right, we have no public information officer. Chopra fired ours last spring. Chopra gave his best spin to his Union-Tribune editorial writing crony and chief apologist Don Severins, but even Severins had a difficult time finding a way to frost this bit of doggie doo doo.
In the meantime, there is concern, confusion and despair in the community. At grocery stores, taco shops, soccer fields and dry cleaners all across the South Bay, citizens are brimming over with questions. Is Southwestern going to close down? Do my classes still count? Where will we go to college now? What is the board doing about it? When are they going to fire the guy who caused all this?
Students can find a degree of solace in the fact that the college will operate for at least two more years and that classes are safe for now. Luckily for us, the wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly. WASC gave SWC a list of 10 problems it needs to fix, none about teaching and learning. Academically SWC is solid. It is the administration and governing board that have some explaining to do.
Thank goodness we can always turn to Alioto for some comic relief. Our buffoonish VP and one-time interim superintendent is a one-man lawsuit waiting to happen. His ham-handed handling of the October student class cut protest that ended with the suspension of four professors who had not done anything was right out of the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad crush dissent playbook and has been well documented in these pages and the national media.
It has always been the Sun's policy to keep its own issues out of print. This policy has rarely been put to question. Until now.
Recently Alioto has turned his wrath toward the SWC Sun and its adviser. During December and most of January Alioto froze Sun budget lines and would not allow the payment of any invoices. He hung up payment of Sun printing bills for the entire fall semester, delaying this issue and nearly costing journalism students a long standing relationship with its printer. His reason for these intrusions into our business? He blamed the newspaper adviser, claiming that he was "rude" and "uncooperative" with auditors. College administration sicced on the newspaper in retribution for the Sun's unflinching coverage of Chopra's bumbling.
Two problems with Alioto's story. First, the advisor's behavior is irrelevant. Second, what Alioto said is completely untrue. Every one of the witnesses that attended the audits (including two administrators) said the adviser was his normal polite and cheerful self, and was completely cooperative. And - most inconvenient for Alioto - the auditors agreed.
Nevertheless, Alioto called our adviser a liar and deceitful when he challenged the VP's actions. Not one to admit a mistake gracefully, Alioto compounded matters at the last board meeting when he let VP of Human Resources Michael Kearns and about a dozen other members of the audience know exactly what he thought. While Trustee Nick Aguilar was speaking to reassigned time and discussing the adviser's job, Alioto blurted out "That guy's a fucking idiot!"
Be the first to comment on this article!