Azcoitia Back on Board of Trustees

Governor Rod Blagojevich made his third appointment for the same NEIU Board of Trustees seat within four months. Race, political affiliation and process confusion have become issues in filling the seat. Dr. Carlos Azcoitia has been reappointed to the board, while Dr. Grace Dawson's nomination has been withdrawn from consideration.

Azcoitia was originally appointed to the board by Blagojevich on Nov. 16, 2006, according to the Illinois State Journal. Azcoitia was replacing another democratic Latino board member. On Feb. 28, Blagojevich rescinded Azcoitia's nomination in favor of Dawson, an African-American Democrat and retiring professor from the Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies (CCICS).

According to State Senate President Emil Jones spokeswoman, Cindy Davidsmeyer, CCICS recommended Dawson's name to Jones.

"I simply made a recommendation," said CCICS Director Dr. Conrad Worrill, "If I had known that Grace Dawson would have knocked off Carlos [Azcoitia] I never would have." Worrill said he supports Azcoitia, that Dawson and Azcoitia used to work together, and that there is a need for African-American representation and more Latino representation on the board.

State senators, the governor's office and Worrill said there was confusion over the number of open seats.

According to Board Chair Nancy Masterson there must be political equity on the board. The party of the governor controls one more seat than the minority party. Currently there are four Republicans, five Democrats and the elected Student Trustee. The three board members whose terms have expired are all Republicans, according to Masterson.

Azcoitia said that he received a call from Blagojevich's Chief of Staff John Harris informing him that he had been re-appointed to the board by Blagojevich. When the Independent attempted to contact Harris they were referred to the governor's press secretary, Jerardo Cardenas.

Cardenas said, "After he [Azcoitia] was appointed the indication was that there was not going to be enough support in the senate."

When asked why there was no initial support for Azcoitia or what had changed to allow Azcoitia back on the board, Cardenas said, "Senator [Emil] Jones is fine with the movement as it happened, putting Azcoitia in and Dawson out."

Cardenas also clarified the appointment procedure, "We're always looking for the best academic and professional qualifications for the board, and race is not an issue."

Senator Iris Martinez, who attended Northeastern, said that she spoke with Harris and Jones regarding the removal of Azcoitia from the board.

"There was a mistake, a big mistake," said Martinez. She said the problem was both a clerical error and a misunderstanding about the balance in the numbers of Republicans and Democrats. "I think the paperwork was not put in correctly."

"I got calls from students and from state representatives [regarding Azcoitia]," said Martinez who went on to defended the Senate President, "Emil Jones would never replace one minority with another minority."

Martinez said, "We have to have a Latino and we have to have an African American on that board and I'm not going to give up on having an African American on that board."

In attempting to clarify how the nomination process works Board of Trustees Chair Nancy Masterson said, "In the past, Governor Edgar requested input from the university; this process is not being managed in that fashion."

When asked how it works now Masterson said, "I have no idea, she [President Hahs] doesn't recommend appointments, if the Governor has someone whose helped him in the past..."

Martinez said, "The school starts the process saying who the school needs but the governor makes the nomination." Martinez also pointed out that Northeastern is the only federally recognized Latino-serving institution in the state. According data digest Northeastern has a 25% total Latino student population and a 10.5 % total African-American student population.

The current board, with the appointment of Azcoitia, has one Latino member and two Asian members.