el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014/eldonnews.org
NEWS
COMMUNICATION
BREAKDOWN
An examination of emails points to an institution of higher
learning wary of negative press that withholds public records
STORY BY HAROLD PIERCE / el Don
4
Photo Illustration by Liz Monroy / el Don
el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014/eldonnews.org
C
olleges around the nation are under scrutiny for lack of transparency, whether the issue is sexual assaults or a campus break-in.
A review of communications between
district media relations and journalists
dating back four years suggests an institution of higher
learning wary of negative press that at times withholds
records and denies interview requests.
In some cases, media requests from outlets ranging
from the Orange County Register to a Japanese television station are forwarded to as many as a dozen administrators before public records are released and interview
requests are granted.
When the California recession hit, Rancho Santiago
Community College District’s public affairs staff was
cut in half. Among those lost were two college public
information officers who would regularly handle media
requests, Public Affairs Director Judy Iannaccone said.
As a result, college presidents at Santa Ana College and
Santiago Canyon College handle most inquiries.
“We’re filling a gap,” SAC President Erlinda Martinez
said. “We’re at a disadvantage right now because we
don’t have a single voice. We don’t have a P.I.O.”
When public officials assume the role of a press officer,
it creates a conflict, public affairs experts say.
“They [college presidents] may be less likely to be as
open perhaps as somebody who has good training in
communication and public relations. Sometimes their
instincts aren’t very good. Some people forget they are
public servants,” said Jacqueline Lambiase, a public
affairs and ethics expert serving as interim director
of Texas Christian University’s School of Strategic
Communication.
The lack of a full-time press officer has created disorder among employees. When campus safety officers
discovered a break-in at Phillips Hall Theatre last month,
they needed permission from Interim District Safety
and Security Supervisor Alistair Winter to call the police.
Some faculty members, however, say the recent development of various participatory college governance
committees increases transparency.
“Do you really need a full-time public relations person
to handle the college?” SAC Academic Senate President
John Zarske said.
An examination of records suggests that college
presidents’ involvement in press relations results in
less transparency.
When Yvette Cabrera, a former OC Register columnist,
requested enrollment data in 2010 for English as a Second Language students at continuing education centers,
administrators blocked the request.
“Now is not a good time to put the spotlight on OEC
[Orange Education Center],” former SCC President Juan
Vasquez wrote to Iannaccone.
Vasquez was protecting students from the possibility
of backlash from what he perceived as an anti-immigrant community. Orange City Council members that
month passed a resolution supporting Arizona’s tightened enforcement of immigration laws.
“The disgruntled OEC seniors (from Villa Park) who
feel disenfranchised because of the suspension of
non-credit P.E. [physical education] blame it on our ‘catering’ to immigrants,” Vasquez wrote in a June 30 email.
“We are in a very different town than SAC [Santa Ana
College], so go ahead with CEC [Centennial Education
Center] if they want the coverage, but please do not do
this at OEC,” Vasquez wrote.
Iannaccone honored Vasquez’s request and withheld
OEC enrollment figures.
“I do understand and respect your view point. OEC
has been left out of the story,” Iannaccone told Vasquez.
Cabrera said she had few problems gaining access to
students and faculty members, and expected the public
institution to be forthcoming with her informal request.
“Regardless of whether you do it as a Public Records
Act request, you expect public officials to provide that
information,” Cabrera said.
Iannaccone told the el Don that she was on a tight
deadline, describing the situation as an “unusual and
rare circumstance.”
“People have freedom of choice … a particular college
did not want to participate. They have that choice and
I can’t force them,” Iannaccone said. “I’m always about
providing w