If President Hamilton and the New College Board of Trustees don't resign en masse, they ought to be run out of town on a rail.

--Jay Taber, San Francisco
New College class of 2001

WASC is the same outfit that gave Uprep over in oakland a passing grade.You know the high school that designated those they didn't want tested as seniors and also changed the answers on state tests not once but 2 or 3 times.And whose prinncipal Issac Haqq resigned in disgrace last week. Ummm maybe someone should check and see if WASC has any idea what they are doing because it TOTALLY dropped the ball over in the east bay.

PS Come on people "New" college? What was the University of Phoenix and Heald institute both full?

oops. I meant principal and no I didn't attend "New" college

Blaming the messenger won't recover the funds so recklessly squandered by these tyrants. To do that, a class-action suit naming each New College trustee as well as President Hamilton will probably be necessary.

I attended New College Law School back in 1978. At that time the College was a very loose place where almost anything could and did happen. I helped with demolition work at 50 Fell St, cleaning the bathrooms and attending raucous community meetings, all while studying for exams. The College has undergone massive transformations since the 1970s. It has evolved from a place that was near anarchy, to become an organized, pay more attention to rules and regulations even if you don't think they are essential, kind of a place. It has not, however, as yet, lost its soul.

It is the remarkable nature of New College that invites so many disaffected people, to find a place together and attempt to create social transformation within and outside of New College. It has been President Martin Hamilton, Peter Gabel, Milly Henry, and many others,--teachers and staff members alike, too numerous to name, who have given their lives to New College so that our students could go forth and attempt to change the world. Our graduates are out in the world right now doing the kind of good work we envisioned. (One, btw, recently won a Jefferson award for public service)

The enormity of who we are and what we have done in the world will stand up against any mistakes we have made.

I've been on the core faculty of New College for 21 years. I was the editor and principal author of the 1990 and 1995 Accreditation Self-Study reports and have served in effect as an assistant liaison to WASC. During that time and since, I have argued publicly within the College for the empowerment of faculty as crucial to our institutional integrity. I believe, with WASC, that a major reason for our current problems is that the executive leadership of the College has consistently disregarded and overridden the faculty and undermined its attempts to create faculty-led academic governance and institutional oversight.

However, your reporter misses the other side of the story. Previous WASC visiting teams have repeatedly praised the quality and innovativeness of our academic programs, the dedication and creativity of our faculty, and the energy and liveliness of our student body and co-curricular culture. It has only recently been the case that academic integrity has been significantly undermined in a small number of programs by the pressure of our recurrent financial problems--which again, I believe are substantially the result of poor management and a lack of inclusive decisionmaking.

We, the core faculty, are stepping up to lead the College through this crisis and correct the problems that have led to it. This will not be easy, but we have a tremendous reservoir of talent and wisdom between us. Big and long overdue changes are coming to New College, and we will use this crisis to start realizing the potential our unique institution has always had. Don't count us out.

The only thing more galling than being treated with contempt as a student or alumnus is to be told that what we as scholars have achieved in the world is because of the college's leadership rather than despite it. By bringing disgrace on the school, they have dishonored us and everything they fraudulently claim to stand for.

The past three co-directors of the Activism and Social Change (BA and MA) program at New College have left their directorships (and two of them as faculty all together) over persistent conflicts with the administration. This included refusing to let program faculty make hiring decisions, unreasonable workloads, faculty being denied meetings with administrators to discuss campus issues, and program faculty being blamed for student activism that was directed at New College's administration. Most of the students in the program are leaving in protest, along with several additional faculty.

If conscientious faculty such as Professor Cornford can purge the administration and board of trustees and reorganize New College under some kind of receivership, then more power to them. The important thing, though, is to bring to an end the abuse and fraud perpetrated by the power elite. If the students and faculty can't do that, then the school should be closed.

New College Update:
--The New College core faculty constituted themselves yesterday as the Faculty Council, 41 members in attendance and all programs but one represented. We are working to assure an orderly transition to a new administration and organizational structure.
--The adjunct (lecturer) faculty have also created a council and liaison is being set up.
--Students are meeting to establish collegewide student governance.
--We are currently in discussions about how best to coordinate our efforts.
--More than half the Board has stepped down. A Steering Committee of three newer Board members is working to assemble a transition team that will include elected members of the Faculty Council, staff representatives, and others, to supervise the work of compliance with WASC mandates and lead the planning of the reorganization of the College.

Stay tuned.

We contacted over 200 alumni today, and the response was overwhelmingly in support of the democratic initiative put forth by the faculty and students. If the scoundrels holding out in the president's office want a fight, we'll give them one.

Law School Alum 1999.
There is so much that so many of us could say at this point. Some of it would be, well, scandalous, and some of it would be high praise. That's my best recollection of my law school experience, which I am sure is shared by more than a few of my classmates. What I remember most is our concern about the value of our degree in light of the accredation controversy. It seems that eight years later, the value of our degree is again being openly questioned.
This is very disturbing.
Chris Kanious, my Torts teacher, was fond of saying that education is something that can't be taken from you.
Chris, may have been wrong.

I graduated from New College Law School in 1984. Going to law school at New College was, indeed, a wild ride, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Despite its constant turmoil, it provides the best "true to life" experience for new progressive attorneys. I worked with an attorney as an intern/law clerk throughout my 3 years. I became a certified law student my 3rd year and gained real experience in court and procedure that many law graduates don't even learn about for at least 2 - 3 years out. the day I was sworn in, I had to rush to court to argue a discovery motion. I've been in court arguing ever since. New College provides support and education for those of us who have already been out in the work force and are looking for new ways to change their lives and our community. I wish them the best!
Carole Cullum, Certified Family Law Specialist

New College owes many people an explanation. It's as simple and as complicated as that. There were scholarships promised that I never received, money that I supposedly owed that came seemingly from out nowhere, and administration that seemed more focused on spewing their own personal propaganda than actually teaching. I still haven't received a grade from one class from two semesters ago due to the fact that the professor was frustrated at the school and therefore refuses to grade final papers. When I went to my advisor about it, she simply told me she would mention it in one of the many meetings the faculty had. Needless to say, I still don't have the grade. After presenting a piece in which I criticized the school at the annual Encuentro in which students are encouraged to present their own work, I was asked to meet with the president of student affairs to "discuss my feelings in private." I withdrew shortly after and remain disgusted at my experience.

We've now contacted over 400 alumni in the School of Humanities and the School of Law at New College, and the horror stories -- along with encouragement and offers of support -- are pouring in.

The Hamilton-Gabel-Sneed administration is beginning to resemble the Nixon White House. This place needs a thorough housecleaning.

The new alumni association of New College (independent of the present administration) is forming to support the students and faculty in their efforts to democratize the school, and thereby prevent its closure by WASC for failing to meet legally-required standards of governance and academic integrity.

Our volunteers are already attending daily meetings with faculty, staff, and students, and discussions with lawyers will soon be taking place. We will get a website up as soon as possible to answer the many questions we've fielded in the last few days, and hope other alumni will consider joining.

Hope is still alive in these students, and we need to be there for them. Now is the time to help.

One of our alumnus volunteers has a site up with documents and background on the New College fiasco. Other alumni interested in helping may contact her there. Just click on my name to link to it. We'll let you know when the new alumni association site is online.

I'm a 1987 grad of New College School of Law, and more recently, I enrolled in a video editing class in the grad department of the humanities school - which I really loved and found of great benefit.

Both educational experiences were excellent - there for the taking, and staff/teaching support as good as I could want. My only disappointment with the law school was/is its lack of ABA accreditation, which I was told, back then, was essentially due to New College's inability to provide a multimillion $ law library - even though its location provides easy access to excellent public law libraries.

Regarding Peter Gabel - I have admired not only his brilliance and talent as a law teacher, but also his openness and interest in student dialogue. And I have found Martin Hamilton equally supportive. Both men have impressed me as incredibly hard-working and clearly dedicated to the integrity of New College and its mission of public service, social change and meaningful political discourse via progressive educational environments.

Kathy Voutyras is another longtime, hard-working, very resourceful New College staffer who has been part of the glue holding things together, and I have appreciated, over the years, her warmth and presence there and her continuing loyalty to its ideals.

Of course, there are flaws with the system, and I don't know a lot of the details regarding the current controversy, but I think the core leadership has a long history of good-hearted, intelligent, energetic leadership, in spite of some very hard bumps in the road. And god knows, they couldn't be in it for the money or the glory.

It is my great hope and belief that these issues will be worked out and the storm clouds will eventually give way to a better, stronger New College for all concerned.

Cheers,
Ann Williams

With all due respect Ann, the facts betray your assertions as to the upright character of trustees Hamilton and Gabel. I don't know about god, but money and glory appear to be precisely what Hamilton and Gabel were in it for.

Jay,
I'm a graduate of the hideously foul weekend Humanities BA program and would like more information about what the new alumni group is doing. Its about time something like this happened. The administration is vile indeed, and doubtless the ultimate source of the school's problems. But also, I can't help but be amazed by the decades of faculty apathy that allowed a handful of corrupt administrators to scam the school’s students. The WASC report is unsurprising, and only barley begins to touch on some of the problems that I found plaguing the college--specifically the lack of academic accountability, faculty oversight and peer review. Christ, they've got a guy teaching "global studies" and "history of philosophy and science" whose sole “academic” credential is that he's a chiropractor (this, according to the school’s own bio page on him--and of course it doesn‘t say where he got this degree)! The guy is the director of he “contemporary health studies program”, but he often co-lectured a class on “globalization” I was enrolled in and spoke with the smugness of an insecure, unqualified autodidact, spouting dogma on new age health and civilization, rather than approach material critically. Apparently, an ambitious fellow, he maintains a private chiropractic practice in addition to his academic responsibilities at NCOC. The program provided far more inadequately trained guest lecturers on a regular basis, but I point out this guy because of his important directorial position.

The school has virtually no library, the financial aid dept. promised me loans beyond my legal reception limit, only informing me of their error months after I’d already spent my previous loan disbursement as if there was another coming. There was no system in place for students to easily receive information about their grades (I was awarded an incomplete, not notified by the professor that issued it, and only found out weeks later when my petition to graduate was rejected because of it (though I eventually fixed the situation, this seriously delayed my preparation of grad school applications). These are just some highlights from the pathetic comedy of my experience at New College. Truly the most embarrassing scam I’ve ever allowed myself to become a victim of, NCOC needs far more than just administrative change. What is most angering is that the institution preys on what it calls “underserved” persons via its “community outreach” who, like myself when I began my education there, don’t have the critical tools to evaluate the dupe posing before them as an opportunity, or the self-confidence to speak up when they begin to sense what is going on.

We have an email list for the Independent New College Alumni/ae Association. http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/newcollegealumni

This group is independent of New College. We are forming our own governance, with our own democratically elected board and officers. We are working hard to save New College.

With over 5000 members, alumni and alumnae are the largest part of the New College community. We need a voice! The Independent Alumni/ae Association is part of the Ad Hoc Coalition along with the Core Faculty Council, Adjunct Faculty Council, and Student Council. Together we can reform New College.

For more information visit
http://StopSilence.net

I attended New College's MA in Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community and Activism and Social Change. I now work there, not because I need a job, but because I believe despite all of its problems (some of the allegations are true, many are absolutely slanderous), I believe it is the best education that exists in the US. I never considered going to grad school. Even though I excelled in undergrad, I struggled to finish because I loathed the huge classes, impersonal atmosphere, the complete irrelevance of the material to the real world and its problems, the way things are taught (lecture halls of 350 students with a powerpoint) and no real discussion. New College is a remedy to these issues. New College's classes were the only ones out of 8 years of college education in which I was inspired, intellectual challenged and not bored to tears. The faculty who left New College left primarily for jobs at more traditional institutions, which provide the same irrelevant, boring education I was speaking of but have excellent bureacracies running their schools. Many things actually really do immediately need to be changed and are being changed at this very moment but invoking a crisis that distracts New College staff from the actual work of creating just about the most meaningful college education that exists and merely trying to throw people out or close down the school (while not being constructive or collaborative in their approach) is very myopic. I do hope that everyone who is sincerely interested in rebuilding New College as better, more functional, and more participatory school instead of tearing it down will be a part of this process, alumni included. There are already planned discussions for this participatory process. Email me at aguilita75@yahoo.com for more info.
Love, Heather

Heather,

I really think it's fair to ask honest questions in the wake of the WASC report and probation, especially in the wake of the New College response to the preliminary WASC findings, much of which WASC found to be outright misleading. New College is indeed a great school, but as the accrediting commission has pointed out for many years, has structural problems, does not have an open governance, and has many academic and administrative problems that do need to be addressed to make it a better school. I'm interested in knowing which of the comments you feel are specifically slanderous? Honestly, a lot of this would be easier for students, faculty and staff if the hyperbole were turned down and the real participation started.

thanks,

Mary