Ex-Student Leader Sued Over Misuse of College Funds

The former president of the Grossmont Community College student government has been accused of wrongfully spending $27,800 in school funds during a weekend trip to the Beverly Hills Hotel.

In a civil lawsuit filed a week ago by the Grossmont Community College District, Michael Bang is accused of using an American Express card issued to the Associated Students of Grossmont College Inc. to pay for rooms, food and beverages, limousines and jewelry in Beverly Hills from June 27 to July 1.

Tim Garfield, attorney for the district, said he has information that five to eight other students--some of them officials of ASGC--accompanied Bang to Beverly Hills.

The suit seeks repayment of the $27,800 and a permanent restraining order that would ensure that all expenditures are approved by a Grossmont College official.

Until last Monday, when a written agreement was made between the college and ASGC to freeze the student government’s funds, four authorized ASGC students could have withdrawn $150,000 from accounts in the Home Savings of America Bank in El Cajon and $30,000 in an account at San Diego Trust & Savings Bank, Garfield said.

President Resigned

Bang resigned as president July 8. He is no longer enrolled at Grossmont.

Bang’s former roommate, Jeff Farrell, said he has not seen Bang for three weeks.

The lawsuit also names Larry Humpal, who became president of the student government when Bang resigned, the ASGC itself, and the two banks.

Humpal accused the college of using the Beverly Hills expenditures as an excuse to take over the student government.

He noted that the lawsuit cited ASGC’s plan to grant $55,000 to the California Student Assn. of Community Colleges as a reason that a restraining order should be issued.

District Applying ‘Pressure’

“The district is trying to apply pressure to keep us from giving those dollars,” he said.

Grossmont College President Ivan Jones met with Bang and Humpal in June and advised them that they should not give the money to the community college association, according to the lawsuit. The college contends that the association has no office and no staff members.

But Michael Xepoleas, president of the community college group, said the association has an office in Sacramento, although he acknowledged that it does not have any paid staff members. Xepoleas said he is concerned that being associated with Bang’s alleged misuse of funds will hurt the credibility of the 3-year-old association.

“I think it’s quite upsetting if the district wins and we don’t receive our grant (from the ASGC). It would really hurt the community colleges statewide,” said Xepoleas, a student at Sacramento City College. “This grant money was to go to an office and a paid staff.”

“We have a purpose for the money. We are credible,” Xepoleas added. The association lobbies the Legislature on behalf of the 60 or so community colleges it represents. Each member college pays annual dues of $300.

Blocking Association Grant

Dan Chacon, administrative dean for student services at Grossmont, acknowledged that one goal of the lawsuit is to block the grant to the community college group.

He said the grant “is improper to make during the summer, when the students are not around.”

Bang’s trip to Beverly Hills is the second recent incident in which ASGC members have been accused of misusing funds. Earlier this month, several student government officials agreed to repay $2,800 they spent during a trip to San Francisco.

“There were some students who were given approval to take a trip to Sacramento--Bang and Humpal among them--to go on a lobbying trip,” Chacon said. “They never got to Sacramento. They got to San Francisco and had a good time.”

Humpal said the group had planned to go to Sacramento after flying into San Francisco, but instead stayed in the Bay Area to do business pertaining to the community college association.