End of an era: NIC's legacy down the toilet

My parents didn’t have much money, but they thought I should continue my education after high school. My choices were to enroll in the Vietnam war or work my way through college. Having one brother in the war seemed enough at the time so I thought a community college would fit my budget.

I spent two years learning what my major wouldn’t be before transferring to a university. My parents helped as much as they could, but my living expenses, tuition and books were my financial obligation.

The first two years at the community college shaped my educational direction and were affordable and interesting enough to stimulate my continued education in a four-year school.

Through the years we’ve watched NIC’s nursing program produce outstanding nurses, the vocational tech group provide talented welders and the automotive technology department provide mechanic technicians. These are just a few of the programs the college offers the community.

As an inexpensive stepping stone for students to take prerequisite courses for transfer to a four-year university, NIC has been instrumental in providing a rich learning environment. Students graduating from programs offered by NIC and taught by dedicated, talented instructors often stay in the community and give back those skills for the community's benefit.

Unfortunately, to the detriment of NIC and our community which it serves, the legacy is coming to an end. Through apathy or a misguided sense of value, the community elected a group of three to serve on the NIC board of trustees. Instead of adding experienced direction to keep NIC on a stable continuing path for community success they have shredded an efficient organization, which has little chance of recovery under their watch.

This has been a political maneuver from the start. The NIC goal of providing a healthy, safe, inexpensive and excellent education has been trumped by the compulsion of a select far-right Republican few who deem it their destiny to command the masses.

The results so far have been the loss of the NIC president, the disenfranchisement of the faculty and the potential loss of accreditation. What the group of three trustees misunderstands is accreditation is not a politically entitled honor. If the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) determines that human rights and civil liberties have been willfully ignored and no remediation plan has been exercised, they are obligated to pull accreditation.

If this happens, the students who have spent two years of time and money getting an education at NIC will probably be required to retake all of those courses when they transfer to a university that only accepts course credits from an accredited college. Suddenly NIC becomes Ralph’s College of Neuroscience and you can imagine employers from far and wide wanting Ralph’s graduates because Ralph says he teaches them real good.

Christianity is a huge dog whistle among the far-right Republican political group. How Christian is it to steal two years of time and money from college students with the loss of accreditation? How good are the chances of the three trustees being able to convince the NWCCU that their firing of Rick MacLennan for his audacious mask mandate to comply with a required Idaho law (code 33-2145) wasn’t vindictively unconstitutional and politically motivated?

Mr. BarnEs, a member of the three trustees, says, “not all laws are good.” “Some laws or statutes are wrong.” All this when North Idaho has an astronomical COVID-19 infection rate and our hospital is in crisis care mode of operation.

We have given to NIC on a yearly basis. It’s not much money, but we always get a very appreciative letter. There are other donors who give much more. Hearing the flushing sound of NIC swirling down a porcelain receptacle isn’t motivating to donors. It’s pretty clear Banducci and his posse are going to double down on their “principles” and ignore NWCCU request for a verified plan to maintain accreditation.

It would seem Banducci and friends are desperately trying to commit financial suicide, both for NIC with the money they have lost for the community with their senseless choices, and for themselves personally. I would bet Rick MacLennan has an excellent chance to win his lawsuit and wouldn’t it be nice to help cover some of his legal costs as a demonstration of disgust for the Banducci group? I would imagine some donors who’ve contributed a lot of money toward NIC’s success agree with that concept.

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Doug Albertson is a 40-year resident of Coeur d'Alene.