Chaparral 2024-2025: A Reflection on Values with Senate President and Professor of Political Science Cameron Hastings

A Reflection on Values with Senate President and Professor of Political Science Cameron Hastings

I am going to take off my Academic Senate President hat for a moment and talk like a Professor of Political Science. I have studied government and politics for quite a while, and the past five months have been interesting to say the least. I have watched for a decade now as norms and traditions have not held in the face of elected officials that do not respect them. I have observed what happens when we assume that everyone will “play by the rules”, but the politics and desire for power lead people to do things we find unimaginable and we wonder how this could happen. Why am I talking about all of this? Because it should serve as a lesson for all of us. As we face pressures from the current administration, our state legislature, and special interests to make us change the way we do things as educators, we need to take a step back and figure a few things out.

First, what do we value as an educational institution and what do we think a community college should be? Second, do we have the institutions and policies in place to maintain what we support in the face of pressures to push us away from our vision of what a strong community college education looks like?

We can debate whether institutions of higher learning have swung too far to one ideological-end of the spectrum, or if the push to eliminate equity minded projects is wrong, but we need to come to a consensus of what we want an education at GCC to look like. Whatever that consensus is, we will be better suited to defend our values if we have formalized and institutionalized them. Our college has a long tradition of relying on “how things have always been done” but that might not be the best approach from here on out. Not only should we harden our college to navigate external pressures, but this effort should and must be faculty led.

When the state legislature dictates that we must convert to common course numbering, faculty need to step up, provide feedback, and push back on unreasonable efforts to standardize our education. Similarly, focusing exclusively on students that transfer ignores the concept of a community college that serves all educational needs. Even within our own college, we should formalize policies and processes so we create clear expectations that reflect our values and faculty voice.

This is a call to action for faculty. In whatever capacity you are comfortable engaging in: participate, advocate, get engaged, and fight for our vision!