Best Solution to Pierce College Woes: Litigation
* The best answer to Pierce College’s current accreditation difficulties (“San Fernando Valley College Sets Meeting on Accreditation,” Oct. 14) can be summed up in one short sentence: Sue the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
There are almost a dozen accredited, non-traditional baccalaureate programs operating in the San Fernando Valley area without libraries or full-time faculty. How then can WASC and its appointed commissions legitimately question the accreditation status of Pierce, whose library and faculty are excellent?
Will WASC back down if threatened with litigation? Other cases like those of St. Thomas Aquinas College and Loma Linda University suggest that it will. Lacking federal supervision of direct accountability to a California constituency, WASC is today a paper tiger that should be abolished or reformed.
ROBERT OLIPHANT
Cambria
Oliphant is executive director of Californians for Community College Equity, a political action group aimed at shifting lower-division classes to community colleges .
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