[Editor’s Note: Amidst rumors intensely unpopular Dr. Mark Rocha, president of Pasadena City College, and General Counsel Gail Cooper may be forced out, Ms. Michelson, a PCC faculty member, delivered this talk to the college’s Board of Trustees last week.]
[img]2530|right|||no_popup[/img]I have been subjected, yet again, to intimidation and rude remarks from General Counsel Gail Cooper – and some very inappropriate words from Dr. Rocha.
Last Tuesday, I sent an email to the PCC Board and Executive Senate regarding CAPM meetings and the Brown Act. I expressed my dismay that the Board had not held the President accountable and had insisted that the Executive Senate attend CAPM “without setting conditions”.
A Gail Cooper email then appeared, telling me my comments were “misplaced,” and adding, “We suggest that you direct your energy to [more productive exchanges]”– and “cease your efforts to be critical.”
I responded that bullying from a lawyer has no place in the workplace. Her next email to me started with: “I’m so glad my explanation was clear and understandable to you. I cannot say the same for your attempt at deductive reasoning with regard to the Senate’s boycott of CAPM.” She ended her long email with “we suggest that you move forward with the rest of us.”
In between Ms. Cooper’s two emails, I also received one from President Rocha, which consisted of just four words:
“Yikes, she is crazy!”
I assume he meant to send it to Ms. Cooper, referring to me. It was patronizing, unprofessional, dismissive, degrading and sexist. It doesn’t matter what anyone’s opinion is about a policy or procedure, nobody deserves to be dismissed with degrading language, especially not through publically funded communication channels.
For a male in the highest position in this college to be referring to a female employee in this way is inherently and structurally sexist. In addition, for someone challenging authority and actively working to restore shared governance and transparency, his comment, however short and seemingly innocuous, carries the large weight of males in power who dismiss the work of women. I wonder how many women in professional academia have been subjected to degrading labels upon them as people, and therefore also their work.
We all know the PCC Board of Trustees has told faculty to conduct themselves in a civil, collegial manner, and our interactions at PCC ought to be appropriate and respectful. How, then, can we tolerate this behavior from the administration?
These are two examples of the treatment which faculty are subjected to at PCC by the administration, which must cease immediately.
Ms. Michelson may be contacted at melmiamich@yahoo.com
