New College of California
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| New College of California | |
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| Motto: | Education for a Just, Sacred, and Sustainable World |
| Established: | 1971 |
| Type: | Private College |
| Location: | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Website: | http://www.newcollege.edu |
New College of California was a small San Francisco based liberal arts college founded in 1971 by Father John "Jack" Leary. The school closed after it lost its accreditation in February 2008 and the Department of Education withheld federal financial aid funds due to the college's mishandling of financial aid funds. [1] The college is deep in debt, is defaulting on various loans, and owes its faculty and staff over two million dollars in back pay after terminating their pay without notice. When the college ceased operations, faculty volunteered to assist currently enrolled students in transferring to other institutions. The Board of Trustees, Philip Knowlton, Jane Swan, and Ted Corman, as well as CFO Francisco Leite and Acting President Luis Molina vanished. In April 2008 the law school was absorbed John F. Kennedy University Law School. [2]
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[edit] History
Father Leary started an experimental liberal arts program which he called "the New College" at Santa Clara University, a private, Jesuit university, which asked him to take the program away as "the Trustees of the University of Santa Clara did not support New College's being at their school." [3] In 1971, Father Leary brought the New College to his living room in Sausalito. From Father Leary's living room, the school expanded to a warehouse, then a 5 room schoolhouse on Marinship Way, all in Sausalito.[4] New College obtained a former mortuary and funeral parlor at 777 Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District, for its first real campus. It quickly added a former creamery building on the same block at 766 Valencia.
A building at 50 Fell Street San Francisco, a former Navy health clinic, was a gift to New College made around 1978 during the Carter administration under 32 USC § 736.1 from the U.S. Navy via the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. In 1993 New College sold the property for financial reasons. The School of Law continued to occupy most of the building under a leaseback arrangement. [5]
The progressive curriculum at New College interlaced critical thinking, self expression, ecological thinking, activism, social responsibility, spirituality and community involvement. New College offered BA, MA, MBA, and MFA degrees, and teaching certificates. It was one of the first educational institutions in the country to offer a Sustainable MBA. Community involvement through required internships was a key component of the curriculum. Other avenues of community involvement included free and low-fee community legal and mental health clinics, a family literacy program, and political and cultural events.
New College of California School of Law was the oldest public interest law school in the country. It was founded in 1973 during the social justice movements of the 1960s as a response to the need for legal representation of the poor and underserved populations.
The New College of California's Science Institute, established in San Francisco in 1976, and in 2006 in Whittier, provided accredited science units to more than 5,000 working adults seeking missing academic credits required to enter health care professions or academic institutions.
New College North Bay Campus was established in 1998 in Santa Rosa. The curriculum focused on ecology and building leadership skills. BA and MA Programs included EcoDwelling, Ecological Agriculture, Consciousness, Healing & Ecology, Holistic Nutrition Education, Holistic Nutrition Consulting, Activism and Social Change. The first accredited Green MBA in the country was born at this campus in 1999 with an emphasis in Sustainable Enterprise. The Green MBA has since relocated to Dominican University. The North Bay Campus is now closed.[6]
In 2005, New College purchased the Roxie Cinema. [7] The new "Roxie New College Film Center" is the oldest continuously running theatre in San Francisco. It held the College's Media Studies classes and hosts prominent lecturers and community activities, including a Green Movie night through San Francisco Urban Alliance for Sustainability. That same year, New College built a broadcasting studio at 780 Valencia, next to 766 Valencia.
[edit] New College Today
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[edit] Campuses
New College’s main campus was housed in several buildings in the heart of the Mission District in San Francisco on Valencia Street. The Law School was located on Fell Street was within walking distance of City Hall and government offices. A "Green Living Center" was planned for the Casa Loma Hotel, a controversial real estate purchase. The East Bay Weekend BA Completion Program in "Self-Mastery, Leadership and Resilience In Urban Environments and Global Society" was housed in Emeryville. The North Bay Campus in Culture Ecology and Sustainable was housed in Santa Rosa, California, in a building owned by the Arlene Francis Foundation, a private foundation run by Peter Gabel, former president of New College and Arlene Francis's son. The Science Institute classes were held at the Southern California University of Health Sciences in Whittier, California.
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Eric Mar, Commissioner & past-President, San Francisco Board of Education.
- Carla Wilson
- Darrick Smith
- Frank Williams
- Juba Kalamka
- Rodel Rodis
- Toni Riss
- Faye D'Opal
- Ford Greene
- Norma Castellanos-Perez
- Linda Lofthus
- Peggy Flynn
- Buford Buntin
- Cody Giannotti
- Harvey Rabbit
- Steven Tritto
[edit] Notable Faculty
- Peter Gabel, Ph.D., was a law professor at New College of California's Law School for 30 years, and served as President for 20 years. He was a founder of the Institute for Labor and Mental Health in Oakland. He is the son of the late Arlene Francis and Martin Gabel. His Arlene Francis Foundation loans money to New College and shared space with New College in the Sperry Building. Gabel resigned from the Board of Trustees amid controversy regarding his role in the mismanagement of the college by former President Hamilton and the Board of Trustees failure to exercise adequate oversight.
- Richard Heinberg is an internationally-known journalist, author, and Peak Oil expert. Mr Heinberg has written seven books include: "The Party's Over," "Powerdown," "The Oil Depletion Protocol," "A New Covenant with Nature," "Cloning the Buddha," "Celebrate the Solstice," and "Memories and Visions of Paradise." He is one of the core faculty at the New College North Bay Campus and teaches courses on Energy and Society, and Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community.
- Stephen J. Ducat, professor of psychology and author of "The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity."
- Adam Clay Thompson, winner of The George Polk Award for Local Reporting for his series “Forgotten City,” about San Francisco's public housing, and instructor in the Media Studies Graduate Program.
- Harry Britt, a gay political activist and former Supervisor for San Francisco, California. He was first appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in January 1979 by Mayor Dianne Feinstein, succeeding Harvey Milk who was assassinated in City Hall along with Mayor George Moscone by another Supervisor Dan White. Britt was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1980, 1984, and 1988. Britt served as President of the Board of Supervisors from 1989-90. Britt chose not to run for reelection in 1992. Britt ran unsuccessfully for the 5th Congressional District of California in 1987, narrowly losing to Nancy Pelosi in a special election to fill the seat left when Sala Burton died. He also was unsuccessful in his race against Mark Leno for the California Assembly in 2002. Britt teaches in the Weekend BA Degree Completion Program.
- David Meltzer, poet and teacher in the graduate Poetics program at New College of California, as well as in the College’s undergraduate Humanities program. His most recent book of poetry is Beat Thing [La Alameda Press, 2004]. He is the editor and interviewer for San Francisco Beat: Talking With The Poets [City Lights, 2001]. With Steve Dickison, he co-edits Shuffle Boil, a magazine devoted to music in all its appearances and disappearances.
- Daniel Cassidy, author, teacher, filmmaker, founder and co-director of the Irish Studies Program. His most recent publication is "How the Irish Invented Slang: the Secret Language of the Crossroads", He is also co-founder of the Crossroads Irish-American Festival. Cassidy is accused of violating Title IX by two female students.[8]
- Neeli Cherkovski, writer-in-residence. He wrote Ferlinghetti: A Biography, and co-edited the North Beach literary journal Beatitude, Elegy For Bob Kaufman, Whitman's Wild Children, Bukowski: A Life, and most recently, a poetry collection entitled Leaning Against Time.
- Robert Duncan, founding member of the Poetics program. He was an American poet and a student of H.D. and the Western esoteric tradition who spent most of his career in and around San Francisco. Though associated with any number of literary traditions and schools, Duncan is often identified with the New American Poetry and Black Mountain poets. Duncan's mature work emerged in the 1950s from within the literary context of Beat culture and today he is also identified as a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance.
- Tom Clark, taught Poetics at New College of California from 1987 to its closing in 2008. A native of Chicago, he attended the University of Michigan, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 1963 and left for England to study at Cambridge and later, Essex University. He served as Poetry Editor of The Paris Review from 1964 to 1973, printing early work by many of the poets who would later be associated with the New York School--Ted Berrigan, Ron Padgett, Bill Berkson, John Ashbery, Anne Waldman, Joe Brainard, and others. His literary essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Times Literary Supplement, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, London Review of Books, and many other journals.
[edit] Controversies
New College was beset by controversies over the course of its history, mostly related to its governing structure. The school was governed by an oligarchy, which included Martin Hamilton, Peter Gabel, and others in their inner circle, while faculty, staff, alumni and students were excluded from governance. The Board of Trustees, which was populated by friends of the inner circle, failed to exercise any academic or financial oversight, thus giving the inner circle free rein with no accountability. Ultimately, the absence of a democratic governing structure and lack of oversight by the Board were important factors in WASC's decision to terminate the College's accreditation.
[edit] Unionization and the humanities department upheaval (1995-1996)
In the mid-1990s, the administration fought unionization efforts by faculty and staff. When popular faculty members involved in in unionizing were fired, students organized. In February 1996, WASC required New College to change its governance to include students and faculty.[9] The administration made temporary changes, but shortly thereafter reverted to autocratic governance by the President and his inner circle.
[edit] Alliance of Students for Autonomous Power (2005)
In 2005, students reacted to the firing of popular Graduate Psychology Director Ali Chavosian, and the demotions of Media Studies appointed Co-Directors Jon Garfield and Foster by organizing and protesting. They created a group called Alliance of Students for Autonomous Power (ASAP) and published a newsletter, Student Action! ASAP complained about lack of democratic principles and accountability in the administration to WASC, which investigated yet again. They also complained about racism on campus, which they felt was a factor in the treatment of Professors Chavosian and Foster. Students demanded rehiring of the fired professors, an end to autocratic administration, transparency in the school budgeting process, and an end to tuition hikes.[10] Hamilton did not inform the New College faculty, alumni, or student body. He subsequently gave a controversial interview to the SF Weeklycover story. As a result of Hamilton's inaction, students, faculty and alumni formed a community group,
[edit] Alleged rape of student by acting registrar (December 2006)
In December 2006, in an article in the SF Weekly, a student claimed that a staff member in the registrar's office raped her after they had been dating several months. An informal investigation was begun only after students and staff protested Hamilton's inaction. Hamilton told the SF Weekly reporter that there is no policy against administrators, faculty or staff dating students, and admitted that he himself has dated students.
[edit] Changes in governance to comply with WASC standards (July 2007)
During the week of July 16, 2007, New College held its first school-wide faculty meeting in its 35-year history. The full time faculty formed a Core Faculty Council which met and gave a vote of no-confidence in President Martin Hamilton. The part time faculty formed an Adjunct Faculty Council, and the students formed a Student Council. Alumni and alumnae formed an Independent Alumni/ae Association.
On August 5, 2007, President Martin Hamilton resigned. [11]
Luis Molina, a former Board member and a real estate attorney with no experience in leading educational institutions, was made Acting President of the college and charged with responsibility of bringing New College in compliance with WASC requirements. Francisco Leite, a former university administrator from Brazil who Martin Hamilton met while contracting an exchange program with UNAES, became Chief Financial Officer. Though initially Martin Hamilton remained on the Board after he was forced to resign as President, he, along with Peter Gabel, was ultimately forced out. The interim administrators hired an educator with little experience in saving failing educational institutions to bring the college into compliance with WASC.
The final blow to the College came when the Department of Education put New College on "heightened cash monitoring" which meant that financial aid funds would only be dispersed after New College's paperwork passed a review. Most paperwork was found to be inadequate and was sent back. The school no longer had financial reserves, a requirement to receive federal financial aid, so few students received their financial aid. After that, the administrators and the Board let the college fall into complete disarray, while maintaining only sporadic communication with faculty and staff. In October 2007, during the fall semester, without any notice, the administration stopped paying faculty and staff. Nevertheless, faculty continued teaching out the semester without pay.[12] Law School faculty continued teaching through the spring semester based on false promises that pay would be forthcoming at the start of the semester. Faculty and staff health insurance was terminated without notice, leaving employees ineligible for COBRA.
[edit] Current status of the college
New College's accreditation was revoked on Feb. 26, 2008.[13] [14] Accreditation was revoked by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) for numerous problems, including lack of proper governing structure, failure to keep proper student records, financial mismanagement, and lack of oversight by the Board. [15] WASC is the accrediting body for colleges and universities in California. Peter Gabel, Francisco Leite, and other persons associated with New College have become lienholders on the properties through massive refinancing transactions that took place from August 2007 through March 2008 while the college was failing. Meanwhile, New College has defaulted on numerous loans and mortgages, and a number of creditors of the college have prevailed in lawsuits. Nevertheless, Peter Gabel and Martin Hamilton are planning the resurrection of the college, but have failed to communicate with creditors.
[edit] Public Records
[edit] External links
A number of websites sprung up in the school's final year.
- New College Independent Interim Student Council: Chartered as of August, 2007.
- Friends of New College Community Website and Email List: A community for alumni,students, faculty and supporters of New College of California
- New College Students Unite: Student-led group to reform New College.
- [Stop Systems of Silence (SSOS)]: Student-led group to reform New College and support survivors of sexual assault.
- [/ New College Independent Alumni/ae Association]: Open to all graduates and former students of New College.
- Committee to Save New College: Reform group to bring democracy to the school.
- Keep New College Alive: Website representing the position of the "founders" who maintain that the revocation of accreditation and financial aid funds was a right wing consipiracy.
- Alumni and Friends of New College of California School of Law: Independent alumni association which has raised funds to directly help law students survive their last semester at New College.601 Van Ness Avenue, Suite E #875 San Francisco CA 94102
- Friends of New College]
- [Committee to Save New College]
- Public Statement of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus on Father John Leary's sexual abuse of boys and young men during his tenure at Gonzaga University
- New College Independent Alumni Association
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