Our Opinion

Published 12:50 am Tuesday, July 3, 2007

By Staff
Integrity at JDCC shines brightly
While their colleagues at some other two-year institutions in the state have been investigated for, accused of, and even, in some cases, charged with various ethics problems and financial crimes, employees at Jefferson Davis Community College have remained above the fray.
And now it looks like state officials are taking note.
Two JDCC administrators have been asked to serve on the Phoenix Project - a team of higher education officials who will help troubled Bishop State Community College &#8220rise from the ashes,” according to new two-year college chancellor Bradley Byrne.
While proximity to the Baldwin County campus may have played a role in Byrne's choices, we believe the integrity with which JDCC officials serve the school and the state community college system was a big part of the decision.
JDCC is not the richest campus in the two-year system, at least not financially.
But its administrators and employees work hard to serve their students and the community, following the mission of the two-year system.
Elsewhere in the state in recent years, that mission seems to have fallen behind in priority to greed and nepotism. Bishop State, where JDCC officials Latitia McCane and Ann Mantel will serve for the next few months, has seen 27 people connected to the school charged with the theft of more than $200,000 in sports and financial aid funds. President Yvonne Kennedy, who has not been charged, announced her retirement from the school Thursday.
JDCC will miss McCane and Mantel, but their work at Bishop State not only shows the integrity with which our local community college officials do their jobs but can also help raise the profile of our campus in the state.

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