Miramar ASG president quits

By Josie Salazar
City Times

City’s sister college, Miramar, and its Associate Student Government were left uncertain about its leadership after ASG President Bryan Hughs resigned mid-term on Dec. 3, alluding to concerns with college and district administrators and what he believes to be an imbalance in politics on campus.

City College ASG President Francisco Fabian stated “His resignation took us . by surprise,” referring to district student trustees.

In a district-wide e-mail, Hughs expressed disappointment with his experiences as AS president in terms of an “embarrassing imbalance of conservative to liberal professors, staff and administrators,” and that there is approximately a “20 to one liberal to conservative imbalance” districtwide.

According to a Union-Tribune article, Hughs expressed his disapproval of what he described as liberal professors teaching that the U.S. foreign policy is to be blamed for 9/11 and that President Reagan won the Cold War in part by Communism. In his e-mail, he thanked several professors for teaching him why “America is to blame for 9/11, how Reagan DID NOT win the Cold-War, and for what is really wrong with the education system in America.”

Also, according to the UnionTribune, Hughs had stated that his decision to resign was in part due to the administration’s lack of support and refusal of his proposal to survey the faculty’s beliefs. He had tried to organize a campus event to discuss political issues between liberal and conservative faculty members.

According to Hughs’ original e-mail on Nov. 30, the event was to be an evening of discussions between a “panel of conservatives and progressives” on several issues.

In setting up such an event, it led to a districtwide e-mail exchange in which several e-mails were opposed to his idea and his use of campus/district-wide e-mail privileges, and according to the Union-Tribune, what he considered “offensive.”

Hughs wrote in a later e-mail that due to not being able to find conservatives for the panel, he was postponing the event.

“I find it disturbing that I can find many, many Professors who are willing to stand up for liberal ideals,” he wrote. “Yet I can only locate TWO conservative Professors in our ENTIRE DISTRICT to speak up for conservative ideals.”

In one e-mail, according to news reports, a staff member responded, “Most people who work for the district are intelligent. That is why you can not find many conservatives to be on your panel.”

In his resignation e-mail, Hughs called on Miramar to correct this imbalance, stating, “This is not a professional education.” And that it is “nothing short of anti-American political indoctrination,” stating his displeasure about the many hippies of the baby-boomer generation who are now teaching America’s youth their ideals.

Hughs, a conservative himself, stated in his e-mail that he simply felt that he deserved to have his voice heard once and for all about the issues he had to put up with districtwide.

He asked that Miramar find a new dean of student affairs who knows about the inner workings of a student government, and a new vice president of student services with what he called “a backbone” and “does not try to do things the Grossmont/Cuyamaca way.”

However, Hughs thanked several administrators, faculty and others for their support throughout his term in office and when he was being insulted online by what he calls “some less than intelligent individuals” in the district.

According to the Union-Tribune article, Hughs said that he was told to resign because most of his student council wanted to impeach him due to his ideology, and the administration would follow their recommendation.

However, according to the same Union-Tribune article, Miramar student council member Laura Wiedenman said that Hughs’ comments were inaccurate. According to the article, Wiedenman also refused to elaborate, stating that campus officials asked students not to talk to reporters about the matter.

Asked if there was an investigation into Hughs’ actions, Mesa College Police Chief Jack Doherty said, “I cannot comment on any student discipline matters.”

Miramar’s Public Affairs Office was not available for comment, as well as their dean of students, Julian Barnes, who was directing all inquiries to the PAO.

Attempts to reach Hughs for comment were unsuccessful.

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Miramar ASG president quits