MY TURN: Carping critics
Has anyone else grown weary of the small group of faultfinders who attend every North Idaho College board meeting? Their repetitive diatribes and sometimes cheeky behavior are frustrating for those waiting their turn to speak. They frequently remind us that Dr. South, who has been invaluable in navigating accreditation, is still on staff. They seem unaware that it was Dr. South’s team of experts and effective action steps which quickly moved the college in the right direction last year. He also has a contract that runs through June. Regrettably, this whole ‘risk of losing’ accreditation scheme has been a big expense for the college, and completely unnecessary. You do not have to be a mystic or even a philosopher to understand what has happened and why. But you do have to use discernment to know which of the “stakeholders" are obscuring the truth.
One contributor to the opinion page pointed out recently, “Deception occurs through the dissemination of incorrect information or the omission of integral information.” At NIC this happens regularly. For example, we were told that accreditation was first put at risk by the firing of President MacLennan without cause. We were NOT told that former trustees Wood and Howard refused to go into executive session. Executive session is where the trustees could have evaluated MacLennan’s performance privately, and made the decision to fire him WITH cause. This would have prevented the first lawsuit brought against the college.
Current trustees Corkill and Zimmerman have used the same strategy at least five times since last June to prevent the resolution of a serious employee grievance. Hello, lawsuit No. 2! By refusing to hear the employee’s grievance privately, these two trustees may have deprived her of due process under Idaho statute and against NIC policy. The employee, former Chief Communications Officer Laura Rumpler, alleges that she was subjected to a toxic and retaliatory work environment by current President Nick Swayne and former Chief Human Resource Officer Karan Hubbard. The actions taken by Corkill and Zimmerman are NOT congruent with a desire to help the college.
The public was told that the initial complaint from the Human Rights Task Force cited “violations of the civil rights and liberties of employees and students.” We were NOT told that the student victims of these abuses hold conservative ideology, and rejected the dogma of some liberal professors. We were also NOT told that their complaints were brushed off by then President MacLennan and Trustees Wood and Howard. The other three trustees took the situation seriously. Trustee Banducci sent an email to one of the students, stating he would do everything possible to help rectify the violation of the student’s academic freedom and the issue of a retaliatory grade. Recorded testimony from two of the students is available at nictruth.com/post/indoctrinationprofs.
There are many more examples of past "deception by omission," but my goal is not to lay the blame for the NIC conflicts at the feet of either side. This, in spite of what some claim, is an ideological battle between progressive, left-leaning educators/activists and a conservative group of trustees. The current board majority was elected by conservative citizens, with the hope of bringing back traditional education and to rid the school of DEI indoctrination.
The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which King Solomon ruled between two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child. Solomon ordered the baby be cut in half, with each woman to receive one half. One woman was willing to accept this, but the true mother of the child refused. This is a lesson on discernment for those in our community who are discerning. The stakeholders at the college who refuse to be reasonable, to join the majority and support them, clearly do not have the best interests of the students in mind. We should focus on the best way to provide a quality education rather than being obsessed with whose side wins. If everyone on the board, including President Swayne and any FORMER trustees, would support the majority leadership of the board, the accreditation issue would dissolve. Wouldn’t this be the honorable thing to do?
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Anne Patterson is a Coeur d'Alene resident.