Should anyone care that 464 Sacramento State faculty members approved a no-confidence referendum of President Alexander Gonzalez? It is in no way legally binding. It places no formal obligation on Gonzalez to resign, and it means little as far as he is concerned. If you ask me, I think it is a huge deal.

When any type of organization, governmental entity or union not only expresses dissatisfaction with its leader, but actually goes on record as having no-confidence in the leader’s ability to govern or lead, it should be viewed as something more than just a mean-spirited political ploy. I think it says a lot when a president of a university can no longer operate with the full respect, amicability, trust and support of the university faculty.

I realize that the blame does not rest solely on Gonzalez. The CSU Board of Trustees, Gov. Schwarzenegger, and the state Legislature all have a hand in either increasing the cost of attending CSUs or de-funding the CSUs. However, Gonzalez’s mismanagement and exploitation of this campus and its students would make any other university president who had the slightest notion of the importance of academics resign.Recently, an advertisement appeared in the Sacramento Bee which included a letter of support for Gonzalez and the names of 98 people from the Sacramento community who support Gonzalez. Today, the same ad appeared in The State Hornet. Interestingly, the Sac State Alumni Association logo appeared at the bottom of the Sacramento Bee ad, but was removed in the State Hornet ad. The placement of that official logo could make the casual observer believe that the entire alumni association endorses Gonzalez.

According to the Sac State Alumni Association website, the Sac State Alumni Association Board of Directors is made up of 26 voting members. However, only six members put their names on the advertisement.

In an e-mail, Tina Treis (whose name is on the ad), the president of the Sac State Alumni Board of Directors, she states that, “The logo was removed in deference to comments made by some faculty members. The goal of the signing alumni and community supporters was to communicate the verbage in the letter that was clearly spelled out with or without a logo.”

The fact that many faculty, students and alumni disapprove of the job Gonzalez is doing is not a secret. So why would that logo be put on an advertisement with that knowledge?

Is it ethical to put the logo of an association on an ad supporting a particular individual when only a third of the governing members of that association are on record as supporting that individual? Judging by Treis’ words, it doesn’t seem like discussing whether it would be appropriate to use the logo was seriously considered.

To add to that egregious lapse in judgment, not one current student appeared on the list of names. The list of Gonzalez supporters includes plenty of business people (including Java City co-founder Tom Weborg), alumni who weren’t here under the Gonzalez administration and one “concerned parent,” to name a few.

Well, 111 concerned Sac State students signed a student petition of no-confidence in President Gonzalez. I hope that ad makes Gonzo feel warm and fuzzy. Gonzo should be ashamed that no faculty and no students, who are the ones who should really matter to him, have come out en masse to support him. That ad is as meaningful as a letter from oil companies giving their support to George Bush.

I am glad that someone finally put Gonzo’s list of achievements on paper. Destination Enron is well under way and it is evident by who supports Gonzo. Is it faculty, staff or students? No, it is 12 CEOs and a total of 47 business people. These are the people Gonzo cares about. So when you see the 23rd Java City open up on campus while you’re struggling to find a class this fall that won’t be canceled, thank Tom Weborg. If I were Gonzo, I would want this ad pulled immediately because it exposes who he really is responsive to and how little support he has from our campus.

Scott Allen can be reached at [email protected]