New College Independent Alumni/ae Association

I recently had occasion to be a guest speaker at California Institute for Integral Studies, a small private college near San Francisco Civic Center that is about the same size as New College was at its peak enrollment. As an alternative school, CIIS is similar in some respects to what New College was before the severe decline of the last five years.

What I found shocking, though, was the contrast in management quality, campus security, and alumni services. Apparently, CIIS (unlike New College) appreciates the fact that their students and alumni expect more in return for their high tuition than a diploma–things like orderly records, personal safety, and ongoing recognition and involvement with the institution after graduation.

Sadly, this loss is not something those of us with New College degrees can replace, but it’s still nice to know there are alternatives where students and alumni are not treated with contempt. For the Writing and Consciousness students doing their teach-out at CIIS, that’s some consolation.

Evidently, ex-trustee Peter Gabel’s grand illusion to rise from the ashes of the havoc he personally wreaked is just more of the little rich boy’s endless supply of hubris. I’ve lost count now of how many preposterous five-point, ten-point, and now thirteen-point plans he’s proposed since the New College financial scandal hit the front page last July, but I expect that despite his enormous inherited wealth, his latest scheme is also doomed to failure. Indeed, psychologists might have a hay day making sense of his recent comments on KPFA about inhabiting a parallel universe. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn this is where he has resided for some time.

The interesting aspect of the KPFA special broadcast
from New College, was the values expressed by Michael
McAvoy and Peter Gabel. Promoting and consuming
spectacle at the expense of disciplined learning for
effective activism. Identification with style over
substance, emotion over intelligence, counter-cultural
feelings over political literacy. Pseudo scholarship
to soothe and seduce rather than prepare and protect.

As a long time listener and guest poet on many of your broadcast 

programs, including ‘In Your Ear’ and the program, ‘La Onda Bajita,’ 

which recently aired a one-sided, testimonial fundraiser for the
beleaguered New College, I am appalled by the shocking lack of 

journalistic integrity and unabashed propaganda and lies presented 

on that program. 

I am one of over 100 employees who have been screwed by the 

financial mismanagement and incompetent leadership of Peter Gabel, 

Martin Hamilton and their Board of Trustees, to the tune of five 

months back wages, lapsed healthcare and loss of severance. The 

program, housed in New College property, for several years has 

enjoyed the sponsorship of the college and its host, a former 

student, and personal friend of its ousted president, Martin Hamilton, 

overstepped, in my opinion, journalistic ethics, by promoting and
soliciting for a misleading and outright deceptive cause. 

New College’s accreditation was pulled by WASC and the Dept. of Ed. 

terminated its eligibility for TItle IV funds due to discrepancies
over the disbursement of federal funds last fall, when many students 

never received their financial aid and faculty and staff payroll went 

unmet. The leadership has failed to disclose any and all records 

leading to the financial collapse of the college and have, in fact, 

recently placed personal liens on all the properties housing the 

school on Valencia Street, so that our back pay will likely never be 

recovered. Meanwhile they are restructuring the school behind our backs 

and planning to launch a morphed version of the college with whatever 

assets they’ve hidden from us, without ever paying a cent to us workers 

who have been left holding the bag.

We have among us, faculty who have suffered a stroke and other health 

crises due to lapsed coverage and impoverished faculty, who were never
even accorded the decency of a formal layoff so that we could file for 

unemployment and back wages in a timely, orderly, and humane manner. 

KPFA urgently needs to rectify its lack of a responsible, balanced 

presentation of the facts behind the New College disaster by broadcasting 

the other side. La Onda Bajita did a real disservice to the cause of
exploited workers and to the progressive cause of social justice. 

Sincerely, Genny Lim
Poet, former Core Faculty of New College of California  

One of the things you can always count on with the Bay Area moral theatrics industry, is that when faced with exposure, they stick together. On Friday March 21st, KPFA radio’s program La Onda Bajita (produced by Miguel Molina and hosted by Francisco Herrera) aired a one-hour live New College special broadcast. According to Herrera, the program was not intended to be informational, or to address the “lies in the [San Francisco] Chronicle and [SF] Weekly”, but was to serve as a testimonial and fundraiser for the school.

While we have no grudge with KPFA per se, Herrera’s on-air admission of extreme bias should give listeners pause. By choosing to side with the corrupt New College administration in opposition to the independent alumni, Herrera continued a long tradition of deceptive propaganda by Bay Area career activists posing for dollars. As a member of the Fourth Estate, he should be asked to surrender his credentials.

Self-promotion by pious poseurs is nothing new, but when they commit fraud as trustees and officers of an institution of higher learning, all their smoke-blowing about a “beloved community” should be ridiculed, not celebrated by local media. Were Herrera not compromised by his New College-affiliated celebrity, he might have had the integrity to look into the documented charges referenced in the Chronicle and Weekly, but that would require honesty—an attribute often missing in those who view activism as a career rather than a civic duty.

The alumni discussion list recently witnessed an 
important lesson in social conflict — basic 101 
activism and social change stuff.

Frustrated in holding the trustees accountable, some 
alumni were easy prey for mobilizing resentment. 
Feeling powerless to take action against the trustees, 
that resentment was redirected internally by an agent
provocateur.

Whether Toni Riss was a witting agent or unwitting pawn 

of the trustee mouthpiece Kathy Voutyras, the discord 

sown was the same. Recognizing this vulnerability to our 

unity in holding the culprits who destroyed our school 

and the credibility of our degrees accountable, is a 

lesson we can and should learn.

In this March 5 article in the Bohemian, New College trustee Jane Swan faults the school’s rapid growth for the financial disaster—indicating that if the trustees had a few more years to build an endowment, things might be peachy. What Swan neglects to mention, however, is that the neglect to build an endowment in the past, combined with ill-thought-out real estate investments and whimsically-added programs that hemorrhaged funds, were all decisions made by the trustees themselves. How a professional adviser to the wealthy like Northern Trust VP Jane Swan could fail to understand basic economics is beyond me.

Now that New College is closed and bandits are busy looting the remains, the 

Peter Gabel coterie is probably getting nervous about having to return 

ill-gotten gains. Should a class-action lawsuit materialize against them, 

that is a real possibility.

So what better way to derail the alumni than to drive a wedge between the 

alumni leadership? After all, the tactic of divide and conquer was standard 

operating procedure for the Gabel gang in preventing democratization of the 

school for three decades. They’ve honed the technique of infiltrating, 

rumor-mongering, and back-stabbing to an art. (There is now evidence pointing 

to a recent undercover operation by a true-believer of the Gabel cult to cozy 

up to some of the alumni leadership in order to undermine the most vocal of 

Gabel’s critics.)

In social conflict, there are always those who intentionally sow discord as 

part of psychological warfare. There are also those who unintentionally create 

disharmony due to their ignorance or argumentative nature. 

In order to prevail against enemies of social justice, both intentional and 

unintentional subversion of authentic activism must be dealt with. Whether 

those who disrupt productive organizing do so as a result of being misguided 

or malevolent will determine the manner in which they are dealt with, but due 

to the limited energy available for these distractions, needlessly indulging 

them is strategically unwise.

People get emotional under stress, and even civil discussions can get heated. 

But better that discussions take place than not. Otherwise, no learning. I 

could avoid criticism by flattering the ignorant or cajoling the delinquent, 

but that requires sacrificing the goals we’ve set. 

Over the years I’ve discovered that teaching and mentoring means that students 

and proteges sometimes turn on the messenger. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. 

But with agents of discord, I find it’s best to point out their game straight 

off before they can do much damage. A good policy is that everyone’s welcome who 

participates in good faith. Those who don’t can suffer the consequences.

I was reading the website of the community college I attended thirty-seven years ago, and came across a list of the eight core abilities taught across its curriculum. They seemed to be worth sharing, if only to keep in mind what higher ed is all about.

1.     AR: Analytical Reasoning - The ability to construct a claim and support it with logic and evidence.
2.     PS: Problem solving - The ability to find and execute a solution in order to achieve a goal.

3.     C: Communication - The ability to convey an idea so that it may be received and processed by an audience.

4.     HP: Historical Perspective - The ability to analyze a series of past events or issues as a basis for interpreting contemporary judgments and for constructing a world view.

5.     R: Research - The ability to conduct field or literature-based inquiry using available technology and producing a result in a discipline-appropriate form.

6.     AL: Aesthetic Literacy - The ability to define, critique, evaluate, produce, and appreciate the qualities of beauty found in all areas of knowledge.

7.     SL: Service Learning - The ability to integrate community service with academic instruction as it focuses on critical thinking and civic responsibility.

8.     C/GP: Cross cultural/Global Perspective -  The ability to transcend one’s own pattern of learned values and beliefs by recognizing and utilizing various cultural perspectives.

On a related topic, we can also file complaints with the California Attorney 

General regarding New College’s charitable trust status:
http://ag.ca.gov/charities/forms/charitable/ct9.pdf
 
Now they have lost accreditation and federal funding and thus no longer meet 

public benefit criteria under which they incorporated, my feeling is that they 

should have their charitable status terminated. They certainly shouldn’t be 

able to continue soliciting tax-deductible donations to pocket for further 

nefarious purposes.

With the closure of the school, alumni are corresponding with WASC as to the disposition of student records. WASC has said it will post this information as soon as possible. Presently, without a secure computer records system, facilities, or personnel, alumni requiring verification of their degrees for employment are in limbo. Student, faculty, and alumni Social Security Numbers are also vulnerable to illegal harvest. Needless to say, this situation requires timely intervention by the California Department of Consumer Affairs (800) 952-5210.

WASC has announced New College Transfer Day is Tuesday March 18, 11am-3pm at the New College Cultural Center, 766 Valencia. Students should bring their transcripts.

As the lights go down at 777 Valencia, we wish to take a moment to honor the employees who served there with dignity, some of them up to the very end. For various reasons, they will be honored anonymously by acclimation. Still, the faculty, advisors, and other employees who put the students first, often at personal sacrifice, deserve recognition. For these noble friends and colleagues, we are eternally grateful. You know who you are.

I’ve now read Peter Gabel’s pleading to WASC, and frankly, he’s become such a predictable bore, I can’t recommend wasting the time suffering any more of his nonsense. I’ve dealt with deluded trust-funders before, and were it not for their inclination to muck up other people’s lives with their fantasies, I wouldn’t give these delinquents the time of day. But since these prima donnas almost always insist on throwing their tantrums in public, I mostly have no choice but to ridicule them in this arena.

Gabel’s latest adolescent whining, typically undeserving of response by mature adults, nevertheless warrants further mockery. The title of his juvenile argument, Truth and Reconciliation, says it all; Gabel doesn’t know the meaning of the phrase. He hasn’t told the truth in ages, perhaps ever. He and his minions have done nothing but lie for the last thirty years–and they’re still at it.

So while all the injured parties from Gabel’s games now have to make the best of the misfortune he has brought on everyone, poor little Peter has chosen to throw himself on the floor kicking and screaming about conspiracies against him and his brave new world. Pathetic.

But even worse than his childish effrontery, Gabel’s assertion that his criminal enterprise must not be terminated, because they ostensibly served underprivileged populations, turns accountability on its head. In fact, it is precisely because the school once had an infrastructure that could do public good, that the malfeasance of Gabel and the other trustees is so reprehensible.

In maritime disasters, boards of inquiry are convened to determine whether any act of misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence or willful violation of the law contributed to the casualty, so that appropriate proceedings against such persons may be recommended and taken. In academic disasters like New College, accrediting commissions investigate similar responsibilities and take measures to prevent public harm. Given all the evidence against Gabel et al, they should be thankful that they aren’t facing criminal charges or personal liability for destroying the institution they were responsible for. That may still happen.

As I write this post, the buffoons self-identified as the ‘Council of Elders’, ‘Thinkers for the Whole’, aka ‘Historical Leadership’ of New College, are preparing a letter to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges pleading their case for leniency in moral terms. We kid you not.

While attempting to get away with fraud and gross incompetence due to their assumed piety is nothing new for charlatans like Peter Gabel (the leader of this imagined ’spiritual community’), it’s still galling, after all the lives he’s ruined, to hear him claiming a right to the high ground.

One really has to read Nina Siegal’s profile of Gabel to comprehend the extent of his delusions. At some level of consciousness, he probably knows he’s a fraud, but that is likely more than he can psychologically handle. Especially now that his playhouse has been taken away.

Since November, professors at New College law school have been working without 

paychecks, but with the promise of pay. Now that the school has lost its 

accreditation, these professors have been asked to sign a document saying they 

will work for free but reserve rights against the school. According to our 

source, the faculty members pushing this falsely claim that this is what WASC 

wants for the teach-out of existing law students.  

While New College now threatens to replace anyone that will not sign this form, 

they have apparently not checked with outside counsel as to how the form will 

impact a creditor position in a bankruptcy, nor have they checked on how this 

would affect the faculty filing for unemployment benefits. They just say they 

have plenty of friends in the wings to teach if they will not sign.

What is funny is, the two faculty insisting on this signing of forms have 

alleged job guarantees from JFK law school in consideration for delivering 

the majority of New College students to JFK to open a possible 2nd law school 

in Berkeley which they claim all along is what they have had plans to do. So 

in reward for hanging in there with their distraught students since the 

financial scandal hit New College last July, the law school professors are now 

having to choose between their students and their right to get paid.  

To state the obvious, these guys need a lawyer.

New College Trustees July 2007

Ernest Brown
3848 Cesar Chavez
San Francisco, CA 94131
Director, Youth Treatment and Education Court

Tedd Corman
546 Everett Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Managing Member  - Kensington Homes, LLC

Peter J. Gabel
386 Elizabeth Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
President of Social Change for Life

Martin Hamilton
1991 Ludwig Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95407

Phillip Knowlton
5250 Gravenstein Highway North
Sebastapol, CA 95472
Co-Founder, Craigslist

Luis Molina
2601 Mission Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94110
Attorney at Law

Colleen S. O’Neal
988 Kenmore Lane
Santa Rosa, CA 9540
Attorney at Law

Rodel Rodis
2429 Ocean Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94127
President, Board of Trustees, City College of San Francisco

James Rucker
1076 S. Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Director, Downtown College Preparatory School, San Jose

Cathrine Sneed (former chairperson of the board)
The Garden Project
P.O. Box 24292
San Francisco, CA 94124
Special Assistant to the Sheriff, City and County of San Francisco

Jane E. Swan
1100 Church Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
Vice President, Northern Trust

James Sweeney
9086 Trumbauer Way
Elk Grove, CA 95758
CEO - Meadowview Community Action, Inc.

Institutional integrity involves a lot more than financial solvency. In fact, without integrity,
solvency cannot obtain.

The New College board of trustees included some rich people, several lawyers and 

accountants, but also included politically-connected people, as well as people with technical 

and organizational expertise in managing private and public corporations. One was even 

State Chair of the Association of Community College Trustees. Explain that.

Judging by their almost total neglect of their duties over two decades, I think it is fair to say the
trustees of New College viewed this as just another item on their resumes that required no 

responsibility. The problem with that view, other than it ran the school on the rocks, is that it is 

also contrary to state and federal laws, and for good reason. 

I mean, if the alumni cannot place their trust in the trustees of an institution of higher learning to
prevent complete collapse and public disgrace, what’s the point of having trustees? Maybe 

Rodel Rodis can answer that for us.