Opening Day 2009 picked up where the 2008-09 academic year left off, with faculty sparring with Superintendent Dr. Raj K. Chopra.
Faculty union president Phil Lopez led a walkout of between 250-300 faculty and employees just as Chopra was about to begin his scheduled remarks. A witness who stayed but would only speak under condition of anonymity said Chopra was visibly upset.
"I will not be intimidated!" Chopra shouted, according to the witness.
Chopra was left with just administrators and about 30 classified employees as he gave his 15-minute speech. When he was finished, all of the faculty returned to listen to a presentation about accreditation.
While some administrators have called the act inappropriate, faculty members defend the impromptu walk-out. Lopez rallied faculty members in his speech to accompany him in presenting a unified statement about their ongoing discontent with Chopra and the administration. He said the walk-out was unorganized but enthusiastically supported. Lopez said he was confident of faculty participation due to what he called a failure by administration to cooperate and communicate with faculty on issues concerning the functionality and efficiency of Southwestern College.
Lopez said in his speech a primary issue was the administration ignoring faculty suggestions on ways to save the college money during last spring's college reorganization.
"Faculty and staff submitted hundreds of ideas last spring to help the college save money," said Lopez. "None of these included firing five colleagues."
Lopez criticized the governing board for being unresponsive to the Resolution of No Confidence in Chopra that was passed by the Academic Senate on April 28. Classified employees passed a No Confidence Resolution in May.
Part of the faculty resolution asked that the governing board respond in writing to the issues that were raised. There has been no response.
"The fact that the board chose not to respond shows us that they don't regard the resolution of no confidence as anything other than, you know, faculty whining," said Lopez.
He said that his desire is to see Chopra and the governing board respond to faculty concerns and include their input in the decision-making process as is required by Shared Governance rules in the California Education Code. He ended his speech on Opening Day by telling the faculty that leaving while Chopra was speaking was an expression of its deep and solemn concern for the state of the school.
Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Angelica Suarez said the faculty's actions were out of place. She said that Opening Day was intended to update everyone on new developments and the state of the college. Any deviation from that, she said was "inappropriate."
"The key here is that there are different forums that allow for different conversations," she said.
Positive communication and respect are critical to move the college forward, Suarez said. All parties involved have to treat each other with professionalism, she said, and most importantly everyone needs to keep the needs of the students foremost in their motives from now on.
Dr. Jean Roesch, president of the SWC governing board said she was saddened by the "negativity." Opening Day was supposed to bring the administration, faculty and staff together to get everyone organized on a positive note, she said. The walkout caused her sadness, she said.
"My heart sank," Roesch said.
Roesch said she was impressed with the small group of employees that didn't walk out at Lopez's "directive." She said she "appreciated their support of the positive." She said she desired more of that and wanted all parties to work toward the goal of student success.
Roesch said Chopra "handles stress and pressure really well" and was acting in a manner consistent with the governing board's direction.
Mark Pentilescu, professor of theater, said he walked out because Lopez asked in his speech for the faculty to show its solidarity. He said Chopra has never taken the time nor the care to inform the faculty of what he planned to do or why he was doing it. Pentilescu said faculty at SWC have been treated like criminals, "when in fact it is the governing board and Chopra who are driving a stake into the heart of SWC's campus community." He said that the only people who support Chopra's actions are his newly hired vice presidents.
"Everyone else is aghast at his mismanagement of the school," said Pentilescu. "The faculty want to be able to help make decisions, to be heard, to be recognized."
Pentilescu said the governing board is "whistling past the graveyard" by allowing Chopra to continue "his heavy handedness" unchecked. He predicted dire consequences for the college when it is examined by accreditation teams in October. Shared governance and faculty-administrator relations will get low scores, he said.
Roesch said she hopes the riff can be mended.
"My personal agenda is I hope that we can all get together and work toward that one cause."
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