Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Linda Katehi, DeVry University and the UC Pepper Spray Incident: Chancellor Katehi should be fired

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, who presided over UC Davis's scandalous pepper-spray incident, got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Yesterday, she announced she was resigning from the corporate board of DeVry Education Group, owner of DeVry University. DeVry is currently being sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for making false claims about its job placement rates.

Katehi is making at least $400,000 as boss of UC Davis, more than the Governor of California. But apparently that wasn't enough for her.  According to a CBS report, DeVry paid Katehi $70,000 to be on its corporate board.

Why do suppose DeVry put Katehi on its board? Did it appreciate the great judgment she showed after  UC Davis police officers pepper-sprayed peaceful and nonthreatening students who were participating in an Occupy Wall Street demonstration?

Did DeVry admire the way Katehi handled the pepper-spray incident, denying she knew the police were going to use pepper spray and then allowing the university to file charges against the student victims?

Or perhaps DeVry appreciated Katehi's crisis management skills. After all, she hired a a PR flack in the wake of the pepper-spray incident at a salary of $260,000--more than a quarter of the amount UC Davis paid the pepper-spray victims to settle their lawsuit.

Or maybe DeVry was impressed by Katehi's transparency.  UC Davis refused to turn over the names of the police officers who were involved in the pepper-spray assault for more than two years. In fact, it did not release the names of the officers until it lost a court battle with the Sacramento Bee.

No, we all know why for-profit universities put high-profile figures like Chancellor Katehi on their governing boards. They do it to buy influence, credibility and political cover.

In my opinion, the University of California should fire Katehi for gross misjudgment. Everyone knows that America's for-profit colleges are ripping off vulnerable and unsophisticated students, that they charge too much, and that their student-loan default rates are shockingly high.  For Katehi, who bungled UC Davis's pepper-spay scandal and who is overpaid, to glom on to an extra 70,000 clams by serving on DeVry University's board is disgraceful.

Image result for linda katehi uc davis
Linda Katehi, Chancellor of UC Davis 

References

Brad Branan. UC Davis cuts PR post that drew criticism for its $260,000 salary. Sacramento Bee, September 26, 2015. Accessible at http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/the-public-eye/article36715044.html

Paul Collins. That's Rich.  The chancellor of UC Davis is a bona fide 1 percenter. Slate, March 5, 2012.  Accessible at: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/moneybox/2012/03/uc_davis_chancellor_linda_katehi_s_salary_makes_her_a_member_of_the_1_percent_.html http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/6021:forprofit-kaplan-university-pays-executives-a-quarter-billion-dollars-courtesy-of-students-and-taxpayers

Larry Gordon (2012, September 13). UC to pay settlement in Davis pepper spray case. Los Angeles Times (online edition). http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/13/local/la-me-uc-pepper-spray-20120914

Scott Jaschik. Davis Will Drop Charges Against, Pay Medical Bills of Pepper Spray Students. Inside Higher Ed, November 23, 2011. Available at https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2011/11/23/davis-will-drop-charges-against-pay-medical-bills-pepper-spray-students

Sam Stanton. Bee wins legal battle for names of UC Davis officers in pepper spray incident. Sacramento Bee, August 21, 2014. Available at http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article2607394.html

Danny Weil. For-Profit Kaplan University Pays Executives a Quarter Billion Dollars, Courtesy of Students and Taxpayers. Truth-out.org, January 14, 2012. Accessible at http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/6021:forprofit-kaplan-university-pays-executives-a-quarter-billion-dollars-courtesy-of-students-and-taxpayers

3 comments:

  1. Gee... and all I wanted after returning to college at age 40 was to be able to get a job as a mid-level Health Administrator with meagerly $60K a year salary. While top educators Lord over the unsuspecting who are sucked into their vicious traps! And drive away in their Lamborghinis!

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