By MICHAEL J. POLLACK
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times
UNION — “Justice needs to be served,” Occupy Kean protest organizer Gizeth Cruz said at State Senator Ray Lesniak’s Legislative District 20 Office a day after Kean University’s Board of Trustees voted in favor of keeping its embattled president.
Last Thursday, a group of students marched in the rain from the university, down Morris Avenue, to the senator’s office, speaking out against the retaining of President Dawood Farahi despite nu- merous falsified claims on his résumé.
Students held signs that read “Even McDonald’s Has Background Checks,” “Fraudhi Must Step Down” and “I’ m Tired of Paying for Farahi’s Ferrari.”
Mr. Farahi makes $293,550 annually and is slated to receive a $200,000 bonus next year. According to a copy of his compensation agreement, the school also provides Mr. Farahi with a newly pur- chased or leased automobile every three years “for official state purposes.”
“We, as the students, have the right to a scandal-free environment,” Ms. Cruz said. “We demand the truth, and we demand answers.” She went on to call on Senator Lesniak to “push for the resigna- tion of Mr. Farahi, as he is the face of Kean, and he has done nothing but drag Kean’s name into the dirt.”
James Castiglione, president of the Kean Federation of Teachers (KFT), spoke to The Westfield Leader and The Times prior to last Wednesday’s board decision. He said the KFT was prepared to recom- mend that Kean employ the services of the Registry for College and University Presidents; the Registry’s mission is to provide experienced interim leadership during a period of transition. Registry interims cannot become candidates for the permanent position, which “avoids insider conflicts of interest, political pres- sures and potentially impaired decision- making,” according to the group.
The board of trustees, who voted 7 to 4 in favor of retaining Mr. Farahi, issued a statement that acknowledged an investigation uncovered “instances, most decades-old, where Dr. Farahi exhibited carelessness that is not consistent with today’s rigorous academic environment at Kean. Voting in favor of keeping Mr. Farahi were Trustees Helyn Payne-Balti- more, Linda Lewis, Michael D’ Agostino, Lamont Repollet, Eugene Enlow, Barbara Sobel and Ada Morell. Voting against retaining him were Richard Trabert of Westfield , Donald Soriero, former Westfield resident and current Scotch Plains resident Robert Cockren, and Lester Aron. Trustee Holly Bakke abstained.
“The board does not condone these mistakes made by Dr. Farahi; in fact, we deplore them. But the board recognizes that none of the investigator’s findings is material to Dr. Farahi’s successful employment as president of Kean. Indeed, under Dr. Farahi’s tenure, the university has made significant and measurable
progress, and our students now reap the benefits of an education system focused primarily on their success,” the state- ment continued.
Mr. Farahi, in a statement, said, “I am grateful for the board’s continued sup- port and leadership. I take full responsibility for the errors I have made, and I apologize for the negative attention that I have brought to the university. I will continue the board’s vision for Kean University and its students. Now it is time to focus our energy on the challenges and the opportunities ahead.”
In the wake of the president’s reten- tion, Mr. Castiglione said the KFT is “demanding accountability” by having the board produce the report it used in its decision-making. “The nature of the de- cision itself is being seen by the faculty as a very clear signal that the board has something to hide,” Mr. Castiglione said. The board has an “obligation,” he said, to make the report public.
He said the KFT would employ an attor- ney, file OPRA (Open Public Records Act) requests and engage with state representatives to pressure the board. In addition, the KFT will work with both the State Assembly and State Senate’s Higher-Education Committees, demanding that they investi- gate the allegations against the president and the inaction of the Kean board.
Mr. Castiglione said the union will take its claim all the way to the governor’s office, asking Governor Chris Christie to intervene and “do the right thing” in order to maintain institutional integrity; he said this was necessary after the presi- dent and those who voted to retain his services “engaged in a full-frontal as- sault” on the institution’s honor.
Asked if he accepted the board’s conclusion that Mr. Farahi’s “carelessness” and “mistakes” were “immaterial” to his employment at Kean, Mr. Castiglione said, “absolutely not.”
“There are two major misstatements by the board,” he said. “Some of the worst misrepresentations of academic credentials occurred in a vitae that he put forward for accreditation just three-and- a-half years ago. That statement (“de- cades-old instances”) is flat-out false. Secondly, the point that this is immate- rial to his leadership shows a breathtak- ing contempt for the students and fac- ulty, and a fundamental misunderstand- ing of the academic enterprise that the board majority has been entrusted with.”
The events at Kean have now “struck a chord” with students on campus. Mr. Castiglione said a faculty member at Montclair State University was ap- proached by four Kean students, even prior to the board’s decision, who aimed to transfer to the Essex County school. Likewise, the Kean faculty, he said, have begun calling the school “Soprano State University.”
“We have an obligation to work to restore the academic integrity at Kean, and we will…There is too much at stake,” Mr. Castiglione said.
from http://www.goleader.com/12feb23/12feb23.pdf
