Col Zimon communicated to me that some trustees and my faculty colleagues had asked him to take action against me for persisting on this, but he did not know what to think, because this is an unfamiliar area for him. He said he was seeking guidance in AAUP and Association of Independent Colleges and Universities codes on what to do. "I do not mean that as a threat in anyway," he stated. None was taken. I told him I was quite indifferent to that concern anyway. I wrote again to Chairman Horrigan asking that he take my concerns and communications to the full board. That he did not do. I then wrote individually to all board members whose addresses I had been able to secure at the end of September.

It had become quite clear to me after nearly six months of tilting at windmills that there was no possibility that these serious matters would receive any attention internally. The faculty role on this question is quite limited as the president is exclusively under the jurisdiction of the trustees. I agree that these issues cannot reasonably be investigated in the public glare. Had it not been Col Zimon's intransigence and the public and private arrogance of the trustees they need never have been. But I cannot allow such serious issues to be swept under the rug.

I will be supportive of any move to take the areas of concern that have been publicly raised into a forum that is private, deliberative, impartial and methodical. I will not, however, stand for the sort of hatchet job or cover-up that was devised by the trustees.

Achal Mehra

10/17/99

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