Recent developments in Bakersfield College’s ongoing battle to fight sanctions levied by the California Community College Athletic Association and Southern California Football Association have taken a turn from the appeal process and straight into the land of futile posturing.
BC’s latest action toward the penalties received this semester for football related infractions is to hire a lawyer from the Bay Area and spend no more than $50,000 from unrestricted funds to combat what the administration felt was unfair treatment during the process of stripping the school of its state title and vacating numerous victories.
This information took time to surface due in part to the Kern Community College District’s reticence to relinquish what should have been overt facts and documents.
It is not the fact that KCCD made every attempt to stifle and repress this information, but rather the amount of effort put into a battle that is, thus far, unwinnable.
BC was caught red-handed in their guilt for these transgressions. The administration’s own audit was determinded they were indeed in violation of the rules.
The administration is merely trying to save face with whatever community it hasn’t already alienated. The majority of BC football supporters are taking their punishment as it comes. BC students, who should be most affected by the hit to school spirit, either didn’t know to begin with or don’t care at this point. The administration certainly isn’t looking to the15,000 students to take a barometer on the issue.
There have already been three unsuccessful appeals. With this much money, effort, and time spent on the matter, one can only imagine that there is some clandestine group that wants only to overturn the penalties and restore BC’s brief glory. This attempt to assuage some secret, silent demographic that is apparently vehemently opposed to evidence and reason is a fruitless exercise.
The grounds to hire this $295 an hour lawyer from Oakland, BC has its own legal department by the way, is simply because BC insists it was not treated fairly in the ordeal.
What is not fair is depriving students of the faculties of the administrators. With so much time and effort being devoted to this issue, what jobs are the administrators not performing in lieu of these proceedings? The old saying “life isn’t fair” comes to mind. Take your punishment like the 100-year-old community college that you are BC.
Any further devotion to this subject matter is a disservice to the entire KCCD.
If there is any overturning result, which there won’t be because of concrete evidence, then BC will forever be tainted with a championship title that was won through litigation, not athletic prowess.