Mutinous Southwestern College faculty and employees critical of Superintendent Dr. Raj K. Chopra have been vocally making the case that the college has never before seen such a level of controversy.
Chopra and his inner circle argue that there is much to fix-especially with the budget-and that painful changes need to be made.
These themes have played out very much the same way in Chopra's last four superintendencies. Chopra has said he considers himself a "fix it guy," the type of experienced executive who can turn around a distressed organization. Boards that have hired him usually say the same thing.
No one can dispute that Chopra has been around the block, or around the nation. During his 33-year career he has led K-12 school systems in Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and Arizona. He was hired in August 2007 to serve as superintendent/president of SWC, his first college job.
While written records, press accounts and eye witnesses from his first 18 years of administrative posts are difficult to find, the past 15 years are very well documented.
Clear patterns have emerged. Chopra typically received high marks early in his posts, often being praised for innovation, fiscal prudence and persistence. He insisted on cleaner bathrooms, more nutritional food and other student-centered changes. He raised test scores. He built early followings among board members, teachers and students. He passed bonds. He got high marks for connecting with the community and for showing genuine interest in local issues. He earned raises and contract extensions.
Past employers and colleagues said Chopra could be a brilliant strategic thinker with good ideas, but lacked the ability to get along with others.
Employees, board members and students said he would start well, then grew increasingly unwilling to listen, consider other points of view or discuss alternatives to his plans.
In a 2001 article by the Arizona Republic, former Marple Newton (PA) School District board member Richard Carpenter said that Chopra held a news conference stating his plans for the district without informing the board. The unilateral action upset the board to such an extent that Chopra left the district just 20 months into a five-year contract. Carpenter said he would not give Chopra a recommendation.
Chopra told the Arizona Republic he left the district because he had met the district's goals. Chopra worked at the Pennsylvania district from 1998-2000
Chopra's next position was at the sprawling Phoenix Union High School District. He served the 17-school, 25,000-student district from 2001-07. He was very popular and effective early in his tenure there, according to media accounts, former colleagues and employees interviewed for this article. Chopra is credited with helping the district weather the 1991-92 recession as well as raising academic, nutrition and hygiene standards for students.
A change in board personnel brought a change in fortune for Chopra. He openly quarreled with his overseers and at one point was even involved in an altercation after a board meeting. Chopra filed charges against a female board member when he said she struck him. The board member was later cleared.
Chopra's last years at Phoenix were rocky, according to published accounts and witnesses. One particularly controversial episode involved Kirby Weatherford, an honors student and the ASB president of Central High School in Phoenix. Weatherford said that Chopra had initiated a new two-part lunch schedule to allow students to have more time and feel less rushed while eating lunch. She said she conducted her own survey of the student body about how they felt about the split lunch. A majority of the students indicated they opposed the new schedule, Weatherford said, mostly because it conflicted with extra curricular activities. Many students told her that two period lunch day would cut into work schedules and other commitments.
Weatherford, now 22 and a university student, said she presented the students' responses at a staff meeting that Chopra attended. She said the presentation was polite and matter-of-fact. Chopra's response, she said, was not.
Chopra interrupted her with a "verbally insulting" "emotional outburst" and said she could not possibly understand what it was like to wait for food like he had as a young Indian refugee.
"It was very outrageous to have an older man tell me that," Weatherford said.
Central High School teacher Patrick Looper said he was present at the meeting and verified what Weatherford had experienced.
"When she began her statement it did not fit Dr. Chopra's vision," said Looper. "I firmly believe he forgot he was talking to a young student."
Looper said Weatherford was a star student, active at school and in the community. He said after the staff meeting he filed a complaint against Chopra. Looper said an investigation was opened which led to Chopra being exonerated.
"I feel he personally attacked someone who disagreed with him," said Looper.
Troubles for Weatherford and Looper were not over, they both said. Weatherford said she was unexpectedly pulled from a class one day and summoned to the principal's office. Waiting for her was the principal, the assistant superintendent and Chopra, she said. Weatherford said she was feeling scared and intimidated, and asked for Looper to be brought into the meeting as her advocate.
Her request was denied, she said, and that Chopra dominated the conversation. She said she asked why it was necessary to be pulled dramatically from class and summoned to meet with the superintendent. Weatherford said she was "basically told to be quiet."
Local media covered the story, and the Arizona Republic newspaper quoted Weatherford in an April 8, 2005 article as having felt "ambushed" and "it was very upsetting because (Chopra) communicates in a manner that comes across as threatening, whether he means it or not."
"(The administrators) were using inappropriate tactics," she said.
Weatherford said the harassment continued and she was pulled from class other times for "frivolous reasons."
She was 16 years old at the time.
Chopra also had dust-ups with his board members, according to March 2005 articles in the Arizona Republic. Phoenix district board members Steve Gallardo and David Lujan called for an investigation of "possible misconduct on the job," including the use of "profane or abusive language" stemming from a March 3, 2005 board meeting where Chopra and another board member reportedly got into a private confrontation.
The letter of complaint by Lujan and Gallardo claimed that Chopra violated PUHSD policies and ethical codes, and questioned whether he should be allowed to remain as superintendent.
Gallardo was quoted in the same article and said that he had heard other complaints regarding unprofessional behavior by Chopra from parents, students and employees.
"So there's a pattern here that needs to be addressed because we can't have our superintendent behaving this way," Gallardo was quoted as saying in the Arizona Republic article. "This puts us at risk for litigation.
Looper said he also experienced retaliation from administrators that supported Chopra. He said that he demanded a meeting with Chopra to "discuss unfair and poor treatment" he had received since filing a charge against Chopra. Looper said it was a "good meeting" and that the "retaliation" ended immediately."
Looper said he thinks Chopra could be a good leader if he was "less autocratic and more collaborative" in his leadership style.
"I think he makes it very clear that workers have their places," he said. "There is a hierarchy to the organization."
Chopra began at SWC in August 2007 after the college conducted a national search.
A search consultant told the board it had been a difficult search because 33 colleges in California alone had been looking for a president and SWC had endured a summer of bad publicity due to a San Diego County Grand Jury investigation. Chopra, a K-12 administrator, was an unconventional choice who had never worked at a college before, but the board expressed optimism that he would grow into the job.
Faculty members, weary of an embarrassing period whereby SWC had four presidents in less than two years, embraced Chopra, who was, a faculty member said, "charming, inspiring and seemed to have a clue."
Chopra came aboard with a strong speech to faculty and employees that he would take charge of the disarray and usher in a period of stability. For most of his first year Chopra had smooth sailing, at least on the surface, even tough he made many big changes. He replaced all of the existing vice presidents, froze hiring and announced a reorganization notable in that it eliminated 30 vacant positions.
In academic year 2008-09, however, controversy caught up with Chopra again.
Barbara Speidel-Haughey, SWC's learning assistance services coordinator, said Chopra has created a "climate of fear" on campus by using "verbal intimidation." She said in her decades of employment at SWC she has never seen a president with "behavioral issues" like Chopra.
"You don't treat people this way and I have never seen that at Southwestern College to this extent," she said. "The extent to which this president appears to be harassing people is far beyond that."
Speidel-Haughey told the SWC Governing Board in December that "there is far too much intimidation on this campus."
Grants Director Linda Gilstrap, who was laid off in the April reorganization, said she felt targeted by Chopra and experienced verbal intimidation and hostility in one-on-one meetings.
Gilstrap said she reported directly to Chopra from Aug. 2007 to Feb. 2008 as Chief Advancement Officer of the Institutional Advancement Office. She said along with the verbal insults and intimidation, her staff was taken away from her in September 2008. She was not allowed to access her department's budget. Her office was also eliminated.
"So these kinds of things were clearly actions that show - a huge communication of 'We don't want the grants office anymore'," said Gilstrap. "Second, it was making it pretty rough for me as a manager to be successful for the college."
Gilstrap said when former Vice-President for Academic Affairs Ron Dyste resigned last spring, he approached her on his last day on campus June 30, 2008, and warned her that her job would be eliminated by next year.
Gilstrap said that she asked to speak to Chopra about her job security but was told to work it out through her vice president and to go through the proper chain of command.
She said Chopra's put downs, name-calling and demeaning behavior started at the end of August 2007 and pinnacled in October 2007 when he called her "stupid."
"No one has ever called me that before," said Gilstrap. "Of all the things I have in my self-image, stupidity is not one of them, and here is someone who is the head of our organization that is saying that to me. I was absolutely stunned."
Gilstrap said Chopra does not like to be questioned and becomes quickly defensive, especially about his plans. She said she thinks she became his target because she probably asked too many questions.
Gilstrap said she tried to file a complaint with California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) in January. She said she was told that an investigation would not be opened because since others had not come forward it was a "personality issue" and not in their jurisdiction.
She said she knew that she was not the only one that was experiencing hostile treatment.
"I think the things that I've endured for the last 18 months were cruel," Gilstrap said. "Being moved, not having access to my budget, not having staff."
She said she did not feel comfortable reporting it to SWC Human Resources Department because Chopra had fired the VP for Human Resources and would have final jurisdiction on her complaint.
"When you get a new leader into the organization you can see what type of management style they have and it became very apparent to me that he was going to be in control of everything, " she said.
Larry Lambert, online structural support specialist, worked closely with one of the five individuals whose position was eliminated with the recent reorganization. He said he has heard cases on campus of what seems like retaliation.
Outreach Program Director Fernando Poveda told the SWC board at the April 15 meeting there was retaliation against him for blowing the whistle on two SWC administrators and a clerk he said were involved in a case of sexual harassment. Poveda brought a letter sent to Chopra from Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Jesus M. Gandara dated June 12, 2008 urging the district to reassign Poveda's position to someone else not trained by Poveda. The letter stated the sexual harassment scandal involving SUHSD board member and then - SWC VP for Student Affairs Greg Sandoval "… are now at the center of a great deal of public controversy, all to the detriment of both our institutions."
Lambert said that web technologist Elisandra Singh was given a 60-day notice in April that her job would be eliminated on June 15 and that she was given the option to stay and work or go out on administrative leave. Lambert said he was told by Singh that she was not allowed to go back to her job as the college's web technologist.
"They were going to ship her off to a clerical job in Otay Mesa, that's what tells me that it's personal," he said. "It certainly wasn't a lack of work."
Chopra refused multiple requests for interviews for this article over a period of more than a month. His staff referred all personnel questions to Vice President of Human Resources Michael Kerns, who refused to comment on charges of harassment and inappropriate behavior.
Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Mark Meadows was the only top-level administrator who would discuss harassment and retaliation charges. He said he as not aware of any of these type of allegations. Last semester, he called Chopra "the best boss I've ever worked for."
Looper, the Phoenix teacher, said this is deja' vu for him.
"When you've seen both sides to Dr. Chopra, which I have seen, (it is like) a double-edge sword when his passion is turned into anger," he said. "That charismatic flare turns into a terrible force. What we went through here has changed us. It's changed me."
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