[Editor’s Note: Pasadena City College, whose campus already is overheated, owing to long-running controversies over its unpopular president and much-criticized general counsel, has plunged into emotional darkness again. This time, it is about an invited/disinvited commencement speaker. This story, about a seeming apology, appeared in Pasadena Now. The author is identified as “interim director of public relations.”]
Re “PCC Follies (Cont.): 'District Is Attempting to Scapegoat Me,' Says Student Trustee”
[img]2562|right|Dr. Anthony Fellow||no_popup[/img]Pasadena City College has issued the followed statement in connection with its Commencement ceremony:
Dr. Anthony R. Fellow, President of the Board of Trustees of the Pasadena City College District, confirmed the invitation extended by the Board of Trustees to Dr. Eric Walsh, the City of Pasadena’s Director of Public Health, as its spring commencement speaker. Dr. Fellow noted that a second invitation had unfortunately been extended to another distinguished candidate, movie producer Dustin Lance Black, an alumnus of the college.
Dr. Fellow said a review of the events was ordered by the Board of Trustees because of the serious concerns expressed in public responses to press and internet reports that an invitation had been made to Mr. Black and then rescinded.
The invitation of Dr. Walsh followed the College’s standing policy and procedure. Board of Trustees Policy 4900 (attached), requiring that invitations for commencement speakers are to be approved only by the Board of Trustees and extended only by the college president. It turned out, however, that a second invitation had been previously offered outside of the traditional channel, to movie producer Dustin Lance Black. This earlier invitation to Mr. Black was an honest error, but was issued before the Board acted and without the Board’s knowledge.
The results of the review show that Student Trustee Simon Fraser issued an invitation to Mr. Black through Mr. Black’s administrative assistant with the knowledge and concurrence of Dr. Robert H. Bell, Assistant Superintendent and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. Mr. Black could have reasonably concluded that he had been officially invited to speak. But at no time did a recommendation to invite Mr. Black ever reach the college president or the Board, nor were the college president and the Board aware that this invitation had been sent to Mr. Black’s assistant.
Dr. Bell today offered public apologies to the college’s commencement speaker, Dr. Walsh, to Mr. Black, who mistakenly received an invitation to speak, and to the constituents of the College District.
“Due to errors in following procedure for which I am responsible, we have embarrassed our commencement speaker, Dr. Walsh, by inadvertently involving him in a controversy,” Dr. Bell wrote. “We have embarrassed our esteemed alumnus Dustin Lance Black because of an invitation that was mistakenly delivered to his representative, and we owe the public an apology for involving Pasadena City College in a confusing situation that has unfortunately spilled over into public comment on homophobia.”
Dr. Fellow said that “Mr. Black does not deserve this controversy nor does Pasadena City College. Board members are unanimous and clear in their position that details of Mr. Black’s personal life have no place in public discussion, especially if Mr. Black has been the victim of recrimination and revenge.” Dr. Fellow emphasized that the Board’s decision was not related to a negative view of Mr. Black, his work or sexual orientation.
A representative of the PCC Board of Trustees was present last November to congratulate Mr. Black on receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Community College League of California. As in the past Mr. Black has stated his admiration for his alma mater and the college, and the college has always expressed its admiration for Mr. Black, his professional work and his fight against homophobia in America. Mr. Black was graduated with honors from Pasadena City College in May 1994 with an Associate of Arts degree.
The Board of Trustees has reached out directly to Mr. Black’s representative.
Questions and Answers
How could such a mistake have been made by staff?
Says the PCC: Public record shows that Board Policy 4900 was carefully followed through procedures 4900.2a, 4900.2b, and 4900.2c. The procedure broke down at 4900.2d: “The committee shall contact approved candidates to determine their availability and recommend a proposed speaker to the Superintendent-President.” This did not occur. Instead, all eight speakers on the approved list, including Mr. Black, were inadvertently “invited” when the procedure states merely to inquire as to their “availability”. This is a procedure easy to misunderstand. If you were contacted by a committee member to determine if you were available to speak at commencement, wouldn’t you reasonably assume you had been “invited”? The record shows that all eight speakers on the approved list were “invited” in this way. For this reason, the Board of Trustees soon will revise its Commencement speaker policy and procedures to make explicit that only the college president is authorized to contact proposed speakers.
You denounce public focus on Mr. Black’s private behavior, but we have emails that show you did that very thing in cancelling his invitation. We have the words of Board members proving you did that.
PCC says: The Board of Trustees is being crystal clear with the public on this. Read our statement again: “… the Board members were unanimous and were clear in their position that details of Mr. Black’s personal life have no place in public discussion, especially if Mr. Black has been the victim of recrimination and revenge.” What you have are pieces of personal conversations assumed to be confidential and never meant to be a final conclusion. Dr. Fellow and the other trustees often state opinions and frame possibilities both privately and in public that are disposed of along the way to a final conclusion by the Board. It should be noted that Dr. Fellow and the Board were not aware that an invitation had been sent to Mr. Black, so they were not aware that their decision would be considered a rescission. The important point here is how the Board acted as a whole, finally, and in public. The Board’s position to invite Dr. Walsh was voted on by the Board and stands as its final decision.
PCC Policy
Title: Commencement Speaker Policy No. 4900 Legal Authority
It is the policy of the Pasadena Area Community College District to provide an orderly process to gather suggestions and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees concerning the selection of a commencement speaker each year.
Approved.
PCC Policy for Policy No. 4900
Title: Commencement Speaker Policy Procedure No. 4900
a. A committee for the recommendation of the commencement speaker shall be composed of:
(1) Three student members, one of whom shall be the Associated Students of Pasadena City College Executive Vice-President and two prospective graduates who shall be selected by the ASPCC Executive Board.
(2) A Faculty member who shall be appointed by the Academic Senate.
(3) An Administrative member who shall be appointed by the Superintendent/President.
(4) A Classified member who shall be appointed by the Classified Senate.
b. The Assistant Dean of Student Affairs shall serve as Executive Secretary of the committee.
Committee Procedure
The committee shall solicit suggestions from all members of the campus community and recommend candidates to deliver the commencement address. This procedure should start no later than the month of October.
The committee shall present a list of at least eight names and related information to the Superintendent/President.
The Superintendent/President shall present the list and related information to the Board of Trustees for their review and approval
The committee shall contact approved candidates to determine their availability and recommend a proposed speaker to the Superintendent/President.
With approval of the Board of Trustees, the Superintendent/President/designee shall then invite a candidate to give the commencement address.
Pasadena Now has been published daily since April, 2004 and is among the very oldest continuously operated community news websites in the U.S. See www.pasadenanow.com
