COSTA MESA : Latino Student Group to File Appeal on Ban

A Latino student organization that was temporarily broken up at Golden West College plans to file an appeal at the district level in an attempt to have the administration recognize the group again.

Ana Carbajal, a spokeswoman for the MEChA, the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, told the Coast Community College District board Wednesday night that the 20-member group should be reinstated.

The group was disbanded in March after the Golden West College administration discovered alcohol was present at one of the group’s scholarship fund-raisers, which was held in the college cafeteria.

A Sept. 1 sit-in was staged in the president’s office to protest the administration’s decision, and Carbajal, 28, Lupe Lopez, 21, and Claudia Rochin, 20, who handcuffed themselves to one another, were expelled from the district for two years.

The group has denied serving alcohol and insists it had no control over the one non-member who brought a drink to the event. But the college administration disbanded the group, saying the only way it can get together again is if a new adviser and a new slate of officers are appointed--something present members refuse to do.

“You can’t just go ‘poof’ and get rid of an organization that’s been around for 24 years,” Carbajal said after Wednesday’s meeting.

Carbajal said the college administration never provided evidence that the group was responsible for serving drinks. Carbajal said the college also failed to set up a hearing, which is their legal right under district policy for students who receive disciplinary action.

But the vice chancellor of the district, Gene Farrell, said the administration “has bent over backward” to ensure the group received due process.

“State law is very clear about no alcohol on community college campuses,” he said.

A hearing on the appeal will be heard at the district’s Jan. 25 meeting.