Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Refusal to rescind vote on Remington stuns supporters

Any hopes that faculty and staff may have had of restoring ousted CCSN President Ron Remington to his job were dashed Thursday after the university system Board of Regents declined to overturn its previous decision.

During the meeting, Regent Jack Lund Schofield seemed to be the only one of seven regents who might reverse his Nov. 20 vote to remove Remington and adviser John Cummings from their jobs.

Schofield gave an impassioned speech about the need to give Remington and Cummings a chance to defend themselves against allegations of improper hiring and lobbying practices.

"I would like for Dr. Remington and Mr. Cummings to explain themselves so that I can answer some questions," Schofield said to a crowd of more than 200 faculty and students who came to support a vote to restore Remington as president. "I want to support these people. You are our leaders. The presidents of these institutions are our leaders."

But shortly after, Schofield did an about-face and voted not to rescind his earlier vote to remove the two.

Schofield along with Regents Marcia Bandera, Tom Kirkpatrick, Doug Hill, Jill Derby, Bret Whipple and Chairman Stavros Anthony voted Thursday against reversing a widely unpopular decision to remove the leader of the Community College of Southern Nevada.

"I'm just stunned," Candice Kant, a CCSN religious studies professor, said.

Remington said he was disappointed by the decision. "I've been attending the board (meetings) for many years but I can never predict how they are going to vote," Remington said.

Schofield later hedged on his explanation for switching his position by saying he voted the way he did because, "I wanted to hear (his explanation) today."

Schofield quickly cut off any additional questions from reporters saying he didn't like their attitude or the way they "walked up to him."

The 7-6 vote silenced hundreds of faculty and students who called for regents to have their president back. Picketers circled the Tam Alumni Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, earlier in the day holding signs such as, "All we want for Christmas is our president," and "Due Process."

More than 40 people spoke at the Board of Regents meeting. Some traveled from as far as Elko to talk on Remington's behalf. Before coming to CCSN, Remington was president of Great Basin College in Elko.

Others took off work to support him and share stories about how the institution changed under his leadership.

Evelyn Flores, CCSN's student body president, spoke with emotion when she talked about how Remington opened his door to mentor her as a leader.

"I don't want to be ashamed, but I don't want to be a maid like my mother," Flores said. "CCSN has given me an opportunity to better myself and so has Dr. Remington."

Remington asked regents to give him the same opportunity to speak that they have to every other person that has been the subject of a closed personnel session.

"I'm asking you to give me the opportunity that you have to everyone else up until this point," Remington said. "I have suffered the indignity and humiliation of hearing allegations that you Mr. Chairman have related to the media and have not had the decency to tell me personally."

Remington and Cummings were not allowed in two closed personnel sessions held by the regents last month to discuss the matter. The regents heard a 1,026 report by private investigator Jeffrey Cohen, who was commissioned to look into allegations of harassment and unfair hiring practices at CCSN. The report centered on Remington and Cummings, and after hearing the report, regents demoted the two to faculty positions.

After speaking to the board Thursday, Remington walked away as the crowd gave a standing ovation. A parade of others followed asking regents the same thing, to rescind the vote in order to give Remington a chance to defend himself.

"Your vote to rescind does not mean that you think they are right," Mitzi Ware, CCSN faculty senate chair said. "It means that you want to hear both sides. Hear the allegations and facts and then revote to make your decision."

Judy Fightmaster, a CCSN computer instructor who donned a sticker saying "rescind," said, "It is below the dignity of the Board of Regents to be compared to some back-room politicians from Chicago's worst era. Please rescind last month's vote and start with a clean slate."

Despite a swell of support, the majority of board members said they still felt strongly that removing the two administrators was the right thing.

The decision to remove Remington and Cummings came after a two-day, 17 hour meeting that reviewed the investigator's report.

The investigation was a look into allegations made by Topazia "Briget" Jones, a clerical trainee who was hired, sent to Carson City two weeks later and promoted before attempts were made to fire her.

The investigation that stemmed from Jones' complaint alleged that hires had been made at the college as political favors.

The report has not been released publicly, but a copy obtained by the Sun shows that the investigation looked at allegations that Cummings went around regents by working with Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, to draft legislation that would create four-year degree programs at the college. Cummings also allegedly pushed to get $500,000 from the Legislature to beef up security.

Some at the meeting admitted they had read portions of the investigation and believe it left a lot to be desired.

"I have seen portions of the investigation," Geoffrey Frasz, a CCSN religious studies professor said. "I have had anonymous materials sent to me and I have read the newspaper articles about it and I will tell you if a student had turned in a paper like that in my critical thinking class, I would give them an F."

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said the report was made up of "half-truths, lies and innuendoes."

Giunchigliani was hired to work for Cummings in CCSN's government affairs department and she was named in the report, although she was not interviewed. A few CCSN administrators who talked to the investigator brought up her name as part of the issue of Cummings' hirings. Cummings told the investigator that Giunchiliani went through the hiring process set forth by the college.

In November, the regents failed to pass a vote to oust Giunchigliani from her post. The board did not meet with Giunchigliani about her job.

In front of the board Thursday Giunchigliani talked about the legislative initiatives that resulted in $8.6 million in money regents didn't ask for.

"Believe me if Ron Remington and John Cummings are being punished for getting $500,000 out of $8.6 million, we're not doing a really good job," Giunchigliani said.

In the end, the speeches and shows of support for Remington and Cummings did not change the board's vote.

"A question I ask is whether reinstating a president that has been removed by the majority of the board is the right thing," Regent Jill Derby said. "I don't believe is the best decision for the institution."

Whipple, who said he wouldn't oscillate, stuck to his decision to keep the two administrators out of their jobs.

"For me it comes down to trust and accountability," Whipple said. "Once that trust no longer exists, it's hard to recapture."

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