Bakersfield College fired tenured history professor Matthew Garrett because he criticized the school’s DEI mania, coming up with a flimsy pretext for doing so, and violating various procedural rules. Garrett sued and won.
Now, one of the main culprits, president Sean Hancock, is up for a huge raise and Garrett has written a letter to the board arguing that Hancock should not be rewarded. I copy the letter in full:
KCCD Board of Trustees,
On October 10, 2024, your Board will meet at Cerro Coso College, where agenda item 10A will address the early renewal of CC President Sean Hancock’s contract, extending it for three more years with raises at a cost of just over $757,400. While that quarter-million-dollar annual salary is significantly higher than the average income in Kern County (or any other county in America), the more pressing issue is whether Dr. Hancock has contributed more than he has cost KCCD.
As you know, state law requires that the Board seek formal approval from an administrative judge in order to terminate the employment of a tenured faculty member, with a Skelly hearing held prior to initiating that legal process. The Skelly hearing is not merely a due process checkbox; it exists to ensure the charges have merit. When Sean Hancock served as the Skelly officer in my own case, he disregarded well-founded counterarguments and chose to advance allegations that were later shown to be baseless. His gross failure proved expensive to Kern County.
In his April 3, 2023, letter to BC President Zav Dadabhoy, Sean Hancock claimed that during the Skelly meeting he was not provided “any” information that would change the recommendation to dismiss, and Hancock further stated that “Garrett failed to respond to some of the most egregious charges.” In truth, I spoke for two hours and thoroughly refuted each charge and each of the two dozen subordinate claims made by the district. I recently asked ChatGPT to review Hancock’s letter, the Skelly hearing transcripts, and the charges. ChatGPT concluded that Hancock’s characterization was “inaccurate.” That is polite talk for simply saying that Dr. Hancock lied, and it was a lie that cost the district and taxpayers dearly.
Sean Hancock’s dishonesty led the district to pursue dismissal that culminated in an embarrassing and costly legal defeat. Facing an inevitable loss, the Board approved a massive and humiliating settlement—perhaps the largest ever paid to a wrongly “cancelled” professor. KCCD’s abusive conduct made national headlines, and this financial burden now falls on taxpayers, while Dr. Hancock is poised to receive a pay raise and contract extension.
Ridgecrest residents and the Board should seriously question President Hancock’s competency and integrity. Can he ethically fulfill his duties when facing managerial pressure? Taxpayers deserve public officials who prioritize truth, integrity, and fiscal responsibility over political expediency and personal gain.
I urge the Board to hold Sean Hancock accountable through a reduction in salary, suspension, non-renewal, or other disciplinary measures. Failure to hold Hancock accountable sends a clear message that the Board supports this sort of misconduct. It’s time for the Board to restore trust and integrity in KCCD leadership.
Sincerely,
Matthew Garrett, PhD
Recently Retired Professor, Bakersfield CollegeP.S. I remain concerned that Vice Chancellors Abe Ali and Zav Dadabhoy have also skirted any accountability despite their central roles in manufacturing and advancing the false allegations. KCCD is now spending nearly three-quarters of a million dollars annually on the salaries of these three men. Holding all three accountable now could help offset the financial burden and begin restoring trust in the institution.