Trustee Moser,
I've heard many good things about you as a fair and understanding member of the SDCCD Board of Trustees, and therefore I take the unusual step of asking to meet with you regarding what I consider multiple long-standing grievous violations of Policy 3100, including violations of Policy 3100 and the right to due process going into the Formal Hearing scheduled for this Friday at West City Center, Pt. Loma Campus, at 1:00 p.m. in Room 20. I request your presence at this meeting, as the District is seeking a two-year suspension for alleged behavior that did not occur. There is a strong reverse racism presence at this campus, and I am about to be driven out without due cause so that I am not around to document further abuses embarrassing to the District. A long-standing grievance against a black custodian, and a black manager, among others, has not been resolved against the District's incredible claim that it has.
Everyone I talk to including San Diego Public Library Supervisors recommend I file a lawsuit immediately, however I am still pursuing internal handling of these matters to the extent I am allowed and able to while still a student in good standing for over two and a half years.
I am an American citizen, resident of San Diego since 1956, 55 years of age and am currently enrolled full-time in the District's Business Information Technology (BIT) Program. I have been shut out by other District Senior Management and so I turn to you for help. Please forgive the fact that I am unable to address these matters more formally to the full board by letter, as I am within the 24-hour window being allowed by the District to submit all evidence and documents on my behalf for the Formal Hearing this Friday.
I am also challenging the ad hoc "revised" selection of Disciplinary Committee members with only a 24-hour window in which to prepare and submit a challenge to President Wilson. Because the student committee members are apparently Hispanic and with so many problems concerning Hispanic employees here as well, including one directly involved in the Formal Hearing, I fear that these student Disciplinary Committee members may not have sufficient literacy and other experience and abilities necessary for me to receive a fair hearing. Campus and program affiliation has not been provided, and I emphasize that these are "revised" selections, which raises additional concerns with regard to Procedure 3100.2 conformance.
Because the SDCCD Bit Program includes hundreds of faculty members, and many thousands of students, it is suspicious to me that none of the Committee members appear to be from the BIT Program. I believe that the Disciplinary Officer may have "set me up" to be judged unfairly, as a senior multi-cycle student without Committee representation by my peers. If President Wilson denies my challenge which I alerted his office to yesterday when I learned that he was unavailble, would you be willing to look into this matter further?
Thank you for any response you are willing to make, and action you are willing to take. If you wish to reach me the best way at present is via the e-mail address below. I hope that you are able to attend the scheduled hearing this Friday, or can suggest another Board Member who you believe would be particularly receptive to my concerns.
Sincerely,
Tom Darling
edutrue@mailcity.com
Subject: CHALLENGE to the president of Continuing Education, Bobby Wilson: Protest of Disciplinary Committee member selection per Procedure 3100.2
Please allow me to reference the following concerns for your consideration of my challenge of the Disciplinary Hearing Committee Members selected by the District according to Dr. Fred Martin, Disciplinary Officer.
(1) I QUESTION and CHALLENGE whether this "REVISED" committee was formed IN STRICT ACCORDANCE with District policy, and whether the "revisions" improved CONFORMANCE to policy which includes emphasis on the NEUTRALITY of Committee members , or whether the "revised" selection was a matter of unjustified expedience of by District Employees who do not take due process seriously as it pertains to students in my circumstances. Procedure 3100.2 specifies that students must be "selected from a pool submitted by the Associate Students' Organization governing body" but no confirmation of this was offered. I CHALLENGE any other means of selection, particularly any ad hoc selection for mere convenience or preference for students easily intimidated by authority of showing PRO-ADMINISTRATIVE BIAS. I have suffered from even WHITE administrative wannabes in the ASB and in my classes.
(2) I did not recognize the names of the faculty Committee members PROVIDED just 72 hours before the scheduled Formal Hearing. I believe that this is a violation of the spirit of due process if not the letter, as Procedure 3100.2 currently stands. This is one of the many pitfall of this procedure. The Hispanic surnames of the student Committee members drew intense concern as I have been in countless frustrating circumstances with students and counselors with black or Hispanic heritage. I believe that these students are unacceptable as Committee members in a Formal Hearing that could result in a two-year suspension of a senior multi-cycle student enrolled only in the Business Information Technology Program.
While I wholeheartedly support MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY, I also believe that reverse racism has a strong presence and long-term history at West City Center that "comes with the territory." I have felt betrayed by a black Associate Dean, a black Disciplinary Officer, a black ASB President and Vice President, black office and counseling staff members, and particularly by a black custodian who is at the root cause of the problems I am facing in the Disciplinary Hearing about to get underway. The alleged Hispanic reverse racism I have witnessed involves the previous ASB Advisor and the current one, Mr. Hernandez who has grievously betrayed me, violated confidentiality as a counselor and violated District policy to my direct detriment. Hispanic ASB officers have repeatedly let me and the whole student body down because of literacy problems and "no clue" in many areas of student concern.
I request that the apparently Hispanic student Committee members be immediately replaced by non-black and non-Hispanic students with enrollment in one of the District's Bit Programs. To address the need for multicultural diversity, a very English proficient HISPANIC BIT FACULTY MEMBER IS ACCEPTABLE. I APPRECIATE BLACK HERITAGE AND CULTURE, BUT I HAVE HAD JUST TOO MANY HORRIBLE RECENT EXPERIENCES WITH BLACK AND HISPANIC EMPLOYEES TO FEEL I WILL BE FAIRLY HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD.
In fairness, and in accordance with the Procedure 3100.2's emphasis on the need for an equal representation of students and faculty, I request that no student Committee member be a relative, employee, or in any other close relationship with a District employee or faculty member. I have reason to believe one or both of the students named in Dr. Martin's letter of 3 April 2000 may have close connections with faculty or employees of the District. With probably at least 5,000 students currently enrolled in District Bit Programs or related computer programs, I believe, students selected from this population will show that the District has taken at least some of these important concerns into account.
Further, I request to have the Hearing POSTPONED or CANCELED in the interest of due process on this matter and on other matters as well, such as the narrow response windows provided by Dr. Martin, particularly when there was an opportunity for him to act in a more thoroughly informative, fair, and timely manner. I request that if you make the determination that my right to due process has not yet been violated at this point (such as the apparent violation of the stipulation regarding DISCIPLINARY OFFICER, section 2b), then at least I request that my fore mentioned concerns are fully addressed and that the challenged members be removed.
I believe I will not be fairly heard and understood, and both my qualities as a student and as a person will not be fairly taken into account in assessing my credibility and the credibility and complexity of the testimony and evidence. I do not believe that these students will be neutral, particularly since my ongoing grievances and documentation involves allegations of reverse racism, and problems with my Hispanic counselor, and other employees who I believe to have a anti-white bias.
No District program or campus affiliation was noted by Dr. Martin, Disciplinary Officer, which is also a concern that I wish to have resolved. He did tell me that none of the members currently selected is in the BIT Program. My documentation is complex, lengthy at times, and requires a mature appreciation for the analytical and psychological lines I have drawn.
Please respond to this challenge by e-mail, as well as by whatever form you choose, so that I can be relieved of all these unfair deadlines that are causing havoc to my studies and compromising my other responsibilities. Facing an UNFAIR two-year suspension recommended by Dr. Martin, the Disciplinary Officer, despite all the evidence that the District has already been provided is HARDLY A MATTER I TAKE LIGHTLY.
Sincerely,
Tom Darling
edutrue@mailcity.com
The District administrators circled their wagons, and used lies and distortions by District employees to suspend me in May of 2000, rather than deal with serious gaps in professional behavior and policy conformance. In order to suspend me, the District arranged a kangaroo court, and despite my strong objections. I formally protested the biased "Disciplinary Committee" selection and the unfair actions by the Disciplinary Officer selected to pursue two ridiculously and distorted allegations:
(1) Taking photos of the Counseling Office where I was assaulted by a custodian;
(2)Walking up to a secretary's desk to receive a phone call when there was a sign to one side that was supposed to demark a staff only area, but which clearly did not.
It was so obvious that certain individuals would resort to any ruse to get rid of me rather than respond adequately to the embarassing management and employee issues I raised. It has been hard to stomach this ugly first-hand encounter with the entrenched hypocrisy in our schools.
