I am one of the faculty members who voted with considerable trepidation to allow the FEC to review with the Board of Trustees the issues surrounding Col. Henry Zimon's credentials. I have grave reservations, as I am sure do many faculty members, whether the Board of Trustees, given its past record on this case, which includes a sham investigation, its declaration that the matter is closed, and its renewed reaffirmation in the integrity of Col. Zimon, is interested in a fair and honest investigation.

I wish to underscore, therefore, the unanimous faculty directive to the FEC to take up faculty concerns regarding the process with the Board, including the time frame for the review and the faculty insistence that the FEC report to the faculty before agreeing to any joint statement. It is imperative that this process be completed within two weeks. We have only one remaining faculty meeting this semester and if this matter is dragged out we will not get an opportunity to address it until February, after the Interim. I fear that Col. Zimon has engaged in a calculated strategy to delay and obstruct a proper investigation of his credentials since February, when the earliest questions were raised.

I find it suspicious that the Board did not finalize its proposal until hours before the faculty meeting and I believe that the faculty did not get enough time to think through the implications of their proposal. It is important that major developments not be sprung upon the faculty at the last minute. Even email notifications to faculty members would help. The FEC should explore mechanisms to keep faculty informed at varying stages of the review process so that we are not impaled against the wall with a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, as we were forced to on Wednesday.

The review needs to be thorough and it needs to be complete. The Board's effort to limit issues for examination is unacceptable. While it is one thing to protest about a witch-hunt, all allegations that have some basis in fact need examination. In an effort at simplicity, the faculty limited its concerns to academic issues. But claims by Col. Zimon in his resume regarding the authorship of treaties under publications; his claim of having signature authority on army checks; as well as his responsibilities over the army's educational system also need to be examined. He has made very explicit assertions and documented public evidence contradicts his claims in each of these areas. If these issues are ignored at this time, they could well be revived, possibly by the media. It serves no purpose to ignore these issues now and be forced to return to them when another story resurrects them.

I, for one, will not accept the outcome of any investigation, which is not thorough, complete and open. If all areas of concern are not investigated, I will continue my campaign, both within the college and externally, if necessary, to demand a full accounting. Apart from the specific issues involved in the individual allegations, we also have to look at the collective pattern. One might forgive occasional shading or puffery, but systemic, repeated and widespread fudging might demonstrate calculation as opposed to naivete.

I have already established a website www.zimonisafraud.com, which will go online on Monday as I am determined that Col. Zimon shall be held accountable for his academic dishonesty. If the Board of Trustees persists in providing him cover, it is complicit in the cover-up.

For the past four weeks our faculty deliberations have been mired in the allegations surrounding Col. Zimon's academic credentials. He himself has barricaded himself inside his office and even resists meeting with faculty so that the college is effectively without a president. Col. Zimon is reduced to issuing occasional vacuous memos whose only purpose seems to be to douse speculations about his departure from the college. Mr Paul Gazzerro has, as he had under Ellen Hurwitz, stepped in to fill the vacuum and now even issues public edicts in the name of the college. We are already feeling the effects of the scandal in our fund-raising and recruitment efforts and the problem will exacerbate the longer we delay.

We must act quickly and decisively. By his refusal to respond to very serious and specific allegations, Col. Zimon has inflicted immense damage to the college and is a continuing source of national embarrassment to the institution, the faculty and our students. He should not be permitted to use this latest process as another opportunity to find cover, drag out a resolution or stonewall. He needs to quickly and unambiguously refute the charges against him or resign - and allow us to return to our work at the college.
Achal Mehra

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