I don’t know of any other public college or university in the U.S. where the president claims to be able to rule so arbitrarily or have so little accountability. The situation is compounded by a board of regents which, with one courageous exception, appears to be willing to let the situation continue to deteriorate. This just isn’t right.
As far as I am concerned, the most important attribute of a college or university is academic freedom. When respected professors can be dismissed for no apparent reason at all, and when the leadership of the institution does not see fit to explain why it fails to respect this hallowed principle, and when its trustees sit on their hands and do nothing, then something is very wrong here.
We need a college of which we can all be proud, one which serves the needs of the people of the Northern Marianas. In order to have this, the board of regents needs dynamic leadership, one which is not afraid to assert itself and make sure that the college is being run properly — not micromanaging, but simply exercising its responsibilities as trustees of this critical public institution.
There is no reason why the people of the Northern Marianas should have to settle for mediocrity in anything, let alone an institution which, if properly run, can offer so much to us and to our future.
I urge the board of regents to take immediate, positive steps to change our course, to do whatever is necessary and appropriate to keep our college from continuing its slide down that slippery slope to failure and ridicule.
At this critical juncture, we need real leadership from the board of regents. I understand that they will elect their chair in the very near future. For the sake of our college, I hope that the board will elect as its chair Janet Han King, who has demonstrated her leadership, her intestinal fortitude, and her commitment to getting our college back on the right track.
MICHAEL A. WHITE
San Vicente/Dandan, Saipan
