REGAN: Opinions about NIC not common or sensible

Brent Regan’s Feb. 24 opinion piece in The Press helped me finally understand the motivation behind his endorsed North Idaho College trustees. It also describes how NIC and all of higher education has become an indoctrination weapon for Democrats to turn normal conservatives into evil liberals.

Since Mr. Regan’s chosen trustees violated multiple established higher education standards, NIC policies and state laws, the Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities took notice. The Commission’s duty is to maintain the curricular and operational integrity of regional institutions and determines whether they qualify for accreditation. Mr. Regan doesn’t agree with how the commission is performing its purpose, so he has determined it is also an evil weapon of Democrats. Accreditation is similar to the common certification requirements of many businesses and professions designed to protect those affected from incompetent, unethical, unsafe, illegal or fraudulent actions. The NWCCU protects users of public higher education from the political disregard of established standards.

NIC’s mission is more complicated than Mr. Regan willingly understands. It includes many ways to enrich the community as part of education. A good education should include more than just how to be prosperous. It should contain learning about our world, the people in it, the skills needed to differentiate truth from lies, and how to solve problems. If NIC doesn’t match his distorted interpretation of higher education, he is OK with NIC’s destruction. His view is neither common nor does it make sense.

GARY COFFMAN

Coeur d’Alene