If you've been following the turmoil over at Art Center for the past couple of months, last night provided some resolution: Richard Koshalek, Art Center's president for the past 9 years, will not have his contract renewed. (Yup, that's a nice way of saying exactly what you think that's saying.)
All of this is a culmination of a grassroots movement demanding that school officials put more money into students and education than into what some considered to be less productive projects, namely, Koshalek's push for a 50 million dollar design research complex designed by Frank Gehry.
The whole thing was set off by a blog post from Nathan Cooke, an industrial design student, on May 14th, complaining about the lack of recycling consistency post-Art Center Conference. (We were actually nearby as he was circling the trash cans filled with vinyl conference posters, scratching his head in disbelief.) Beyond the green critique, Cooke went on to the other issues of tuition, compensation, and the Gehry initiative:
Student tuition has been raised 5%% consistently over these past two years so that Art Center can "remain competitive," or so the little letter I receive in the mail states. Well, I'm glad someone in Art Center was able to find the $385,068 in 2005 to pay Gehry Partners to design our new "advanced technical center." A facility that has yet to break ground, and will not be finished before any attending student graduates. Well, the blogpost caught fire (comments now number over 1200), was moved to a new blog entitled Future of Art Center, and on the debate raged. Meanwhile, Art Center set up its own blog in a presumed attempt to get ahead of the conversation, addressing some of the issues head-on. (FAQs range from the insanely-broad "Where does my tuition go?" to the particular "Why does the College spend money on conferences and events?")
K. So then chief academic officer Nate Young and two chief financial officers resign or were fired, and people wondered how far this might go? (Actually, there's an unsavory step in the middle here: Nate Young's photo was (poorly) photoshopped out of Art Center's Legacy Circle page, then put back in, along with an apology. Yikes.)
An online petition called Education First gathered over 1400 signatories and was sent to the trustees demanding that the Gehry project be stopped. Another petition--this one called Honesty First (youch!)--gathered 400 signatures defending Koshalek and the Ghery project.
After some presumed all-nighters (the trustees, not the students), word came down last night from John Puerner, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, as well as from Richard Koshalekin. (No permalinks on these; guess there won't be too many more statements.)
So ya, blogs rule, or they're destabilizing, or make sure you put your trash away quietly, or be careful what you earmark 50 million bucks for. Or mostly take good care of your students and your faculty, don't underestimate the power of architecture or fundraising, and increase transparency all over the place. Now, can we get back to that "Where does my tuition go" question? That's a doozy for any college!
Alissa Walker's got a great writeup of the story at ArchPaper, and you can find earlier stories in the LA Times, and LA Weekly.
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