It's NOT Over: The Latest on the Suspended Profs Case

As happy as we are to see the return to campus of Dinorah Guadiana-Costa, Philip Lopez, and Andrew Rempt, Save Our Southwestern College is appalled by the latest turn of events: formal letters of reprimand for all three.

Signed by Acting Superintendent/President Nicholas Alioto, the letters will be placed in each instructor's official personnel file.

Pending legal advice, the content of those letters cannot be released, but they are largely based on the results of an "independent investigation" conducted by a contracted lawyer (paid for by the district) who claims to have consulted many "witnesses." The witnesses are not identified; however, given the investigator's conclusions, we can be fairly certain that people within feet of what happened were not consulted. Individuals who were there have repeatedly stated that they witnessed no incitement to riot, no disregard of police orders, and no physical confrontation.

Given this most recent development, we must ask: who is pressuring these "witnesses" to give false testimony?

In addition, because the investigator's work has concluded, there should be a public report. The suspended instructors have requested it repeatedly to no avail, but rumor has it that the college is willing to produce it for (at least some) members of the media.

Finally, it remains unclear whether the instructors were permitted to return because the withdrawal-of-consent expired (per California Penal Code Section 626.4, "In no case shall consent be withdrawn for longer than 14 days from the date upon which consent was initially withdrawn") or because the "independent investigation" ended. The two appear to have occurred simultaneously.