NIC sports controversy: facts, fiction

Many in the community are upset with North Idaho College President Rick MacLennan and the school’s Board of Trustees for parting with Athletic Director Al Williams and agreeing to unfair penalties from the Northwest Athletic Conference, which clearly wants NIC out.

But raw emotions can unwittingly feed the rumor mill, which makes for absorbing conversation and stokes already passionate fires. Rumors and facts, however, don’t always share the same space.

That’s the case with some of the allegations against MacLennan and others in NIC leadership.

To set the record straight, there has been no faculty vote of “no confidence” for MacLennan.

Chris Pelchat, chair of NIC’s faculty assembly, referenced that rumor while addressing the Board of Trustees on Sept. 26. “That is untrue,” Pelchat said of the no-confidence rumor. “No vote has been put forward or discussed.”

Through a public records request, The Press asked for information regarding any such vote, going back to 2017. NIC spokesperson Laura Rumpler confirmed no such vote has been taken. She wrote, “There was a staff assembly survey done in September 2018, conducted by staff assembly. The President and President’s Cabinet members talked with staff assembly during an open forum on October 11, 2018 regarding communication and transparency and commitments were made to work together to improve on those areas. One of the outcomes was the formation of Administrative Council, where the deans and representatives from both faculty and staff assembly meet twice a month with President’s Cabinet to help with college communications, shared leadership and the path to college decision-making.”

The Press has recently received an employee feedback report from December 2018 that clearly shows internal concerns at NIC, and the newspaper will share highlights of that report soon. But the smoking no-confidence gun was never fired. Nor, apparently, are MacLennan’s bosses the least bit perturbed by their president. They rewarded MacLennan with a three-year contract extension in June, ensuring that if he so chooses, MacLennan will still be on the job well after the latest conference fireworks have died.

The hope here is that NIC will quit the NWAC as quickly as possible, but not before this year’s teams embarrass conference opponents. To that end, some of the best entertainment in town will soon be taking place on the NIC basketball court. Fans will see not just some outstanding hoops, but may help contribute to a fulfilling NWAC farewell gesture.

That would be frosting on the see-ya-later cake.