To the Editor:

With the placement of new OCCC President Jerry Steward, it seems to me that in just his few short months in office that college funds may be being misused.

One example is the numerous galas to celebrate him coming into his new position of authority.

Multiple mailouts have gone out for presidential events which represent a costly amount of funds. Those are said to be funded by donations from sources that didn’t want to be acknowledged.

Some of the notifications were also sent by way of campus emails but the ones that weren’t are engraved invitations that require postage.

Another example is the additional staff it seems the new president needs to be able to do his job.

Since acquiring the new staff members, new positions of authority have also been created which increased the income of the chosen few. They also have redecorated the offices for these people.

Not only does the president make a very large salary, but also it seems that maybe he even gets perks, such as catered dinners at the college for him and his guests before special events in the VPAC — all of which seems to be what he must be entitled to because of the new position.

Meanwhile, his lowly employees go another year without an increase in salary and still have to try to make cuts in the department budgets because of the state’s budget shortfall.

Most people think that if the new president was concerned about the future of the college, he would be more eager to try to convince the unnamed donors to put their well-intentioned funds toward the actual survival of the college.

It has been stated in the college’s paper about how President Steward comes from a poor, struggling background.

However, it seems like he has adjusted to the life of the well-off very comfortably — and is not sharing the wealth with the people that do the daily routine.