New Community College Official Thinks Change in Style Beneficial

James S. Kellerman, the new chancellor of the North Orange County Community College District, says he is trying to provide a different style of leadership after the controversial firing of his predecessor, Leadie Clark.

Kellerman, interviewed this week as a U.S. District Court considered Clark’s lawsuit against the district, said that when he arrived 60 days ago, “overall morale was not real good. . . . My style of management is considerably different (from) hers. I’m more open, believe in more participation of the faculty, staff and students.”

And, he said, “they seem to be buying into this. We seem to be opening up the process (of governing) a great deal more.”

North Orange Community College District governs Fullerton and Cypress colleges, which together have about 30,000 students.

Chancellor Ousted

Clark, the first black female chancellor of a community college district in California, was ousted last summer by a 4-2 vote of the district’s board of trustees. The board majority, complaining about her leadership style, announced in April, 1985, that her contract would not be renewed.

Clark, saying that the board’s announcement had subjected her to “public humiliation,” filed a $5-million claim against the district in July. She then was immediately ousted from her job as chancellor and placed on administrative leave at her full salary through June, 1986, the end of her contract.

The trustees denied Clark’s claim, and her lawyer filed a suit against the district in Los Angeles federal court. That suit, which alleges racial, sexual and age discrimination, among other things, is pending.

Dismissal Requested

The district’s lawyer on Monday asked for dismissal of the suit, but the court has not yet decided. If the suit is not dismissed, it is not expected to go to jury trial for about a year.

Clark still lives in Fullerton. “I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t want to comment,” she said this week when asked about her ouster and Kellerman’s reference to her leadership.

The lawsuit, however, still looms. And Kellerman said Tuesday, “It’s disappointing that Dr. Clark either didn’t agree to work out the terms of her contract or didn’t agree to take a buy-out.”

If Clark wins, he said, it would be financially ruinous to the district.

“We’re talking about $20 million total in this suit right now,” he said. “I don’t think anyone believes or feels that through insurance or otherwise we could pay for that.”

Clark’s suit seeks actual and punitive damages but does not specify a dollar amount.

Kellerman was vice chancellor of educational services for the district when he was selected over about 60 candidates to succeed Clark. Before joining the district in 1985, he was executive director of the California Assn. of Community Colleges, a Sacramento-based umbrella group for the state’s 106 community colleges.

From 1977 to 1981 he had held a similar post in Florida, serving as executive director of the Florida Assn. of Community Colleges in Tallahassee. He previously had held several administrative posts at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Fla.

Kellerman said that he believes it important for a chancellor to make himself available to the college community.

“I’ve made myself very visible on both campuses,” he said. Staff and students “know they can come here. Now, I don’t want to set up a system where they can do an end run on the college presidents, but I want them to feel free to come talk to me about issues and to surface new ideas.”

Kellerman, 52, grew up in Florida. He and his wife have three children, ages 3, 4 and 14, and he has two grown children by a previous marriage.