New Start for College District

The resignation of the best-known and most controversial of the trustees of the South Orange County Community College District is welcome, belated and an opportunity to set the district on a new course.

Steven J. Frogue quit as trustee at the end of June, months before the end of his second term. Other trustees said he told them that by resigning at the same time that he left his job as a history teacher at Foothill High in North Tustin after 33 years, he would increase his pension.

Frogue denied accusations of anti-Semitism stemming from his comments in and out of class. But at community college board meetings, he sometimes denounced the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights group. He said in an interview that Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of John F. Kennedy, “worked for the ADL,” which he contended was behind the killing. He later denied making the remark.

One of Frogue’s more objectionable acts was his attempt to hold a seminar on the Kennedy assassination featuring a speaker who contended that the Israeli intelligence agency masterminded the killing. After hundreds of calls of protest, the district agreed to bar the seminar from campus.

The college district, which includes Irvine Valley and Saddleback colleges, also has suffered from criticisms from an accrediting commission and a judge’s denunciation for conducting its business behind closed doors. Faculty have warred with administrators, and students have complained of being distracted by the turmoil.

The trustees have been on the defensive for years. They were split whether to support or defend Frogue, who survived two attempts to recall him from office. The state expressed concern about the district’s finances and warned of a possible fiscal takeover, though trustees disputed the seriousness of the problem. The accrediting commission threatened to withdraw accreditation, then changed its mind.

With Frogue gone, teachers organizations and administrators should seek common ground, using the assistance of a professional mediator if necessary. Candidates for election as trustees this fall should campaign on specific platforms of healing measures. The district has an opportunity to move beyond some past distractions and focus everybody’s attention on education.