Counseling College in Disarray as Students Demand Trustees' Resignation

Fifty students at Southwestern College, or nearly one-third of the enrollment, demanded the resignation on Wednesday of nearly all members of the college’s Board of Trustees for a series of controversial decisions, including the ouster of the college’s co-founder and president, and a truculent, disrespectful attitude toward critics on the campus. According to articles published today in The New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal, the demand was made at a heated board meeting that suggested the college, which offers graduate degrees in counseling and art therapy, is in disarray. The board members acknowledged making mistakes and offered some concessions, such as greater transparency in their decision making. A number of the students said they were considering leaving the college for another graduate program.