Bigotry at Board Meetings

Whereas there has been considerable publicity in Southern California regarding meetings of the Board of Trustees of the South Orange County Community College District, where anti-Semitic, racist, and bigoted remarks have been permitted by the Board to be made in the "open forum" time, regardless of the fact that these comments have no relevance to the educational programs of the District, and

Whereas these remarks, including those that have been made that deny the Holocaust, encourage an atmosphere of intimidation, fear, anger, and hostility detrimental to an educational and academic environment for student learning, and

Whereas the South Orange County Community College District has allowed speakers expressing anti-Semitic, bigoted, and racist remarks to continue beyond the designated time for the open forum, thus differentially enforcing the time limit for speakers, and

Whereas the Academic Senate does support free speech but cannot condone bigotry, racism, and anti-Semitism, especially as there is no relevance to these remarks at a Community College Board meeting,

Resolved that the Academic Senate condemn the racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying remarks being made at the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees meetings, and

Resolved that the Academic Senate call on the Community College League of California to disavow these remarks and encourage the South Orange County Community College District Board to ensure orderly and professional discourse at their meetings, and

Resolved that the Academic Senate urge the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees to declare the bigoted, anti-Semitic, racist remarks being made at its meetings to be irrelevant to the educational programs of its students, and

Resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges send a delegation to a future Board meeting of the South Orange County Board to present this resolution.