Let’s Get This Straight … Justifications:

The historian Howard Zinn once said, “You Cannot Be Neutral on a Moving Train.” Sometimes you have to stand up for justice. Sometimes you have to say words that are honorable, and sometimes you may lose your job for it. … I will miss my Mexican friends, my fellow co-workers, and my students. I am certain that I will see them again in our future. I was relieved of my post as a Peace Corps volunteer at the Universidad Technologica de Tehuacan on June 15, 2017.

Due to some objective observations that I posted on the Internet during the week of June 7, 2017, while the university was experiencing protests, those in power at the institution seemed to detest me for their own irresponsibility and manipulative practices. As if I had made their actions more knowledgeable to the public. Yet the Directors and the Rectora’s office have transparently been abusing their authorities at the University for a long time running.  Everyone can see this who works there, yet many choose to avoid comment.

The saying, or thought process is, that “if you are not obediently with me, even if you are neutral, then you are against me.” That is how the individuals in power think at this institution and they take no responsibility for their negative actions. When a child breaks something in their parents’ house, they often confess and express guilt. These individuals are not children, and yet they cannot confess to their guilt: negligence to student needs, exploitive work time of female administrative staff, the firing of staff for reasons not backed with quality evidence; they just fear their own opacity and accountability, such as firing lawyers and accountants, individuals with ties to the media, or the administrative staff, who were doing their jobs well, but knew too much information or were willing to speak up.

The week of June 14, 2017, the week after the protests, was tense and uncomfortable to witness. Even though on the previous Friday, government officials came into the school and gave the voice of solidarity with the protestors; admitting that the Rectora and her office were neglecting her duties as a principle at the university, which were the same observations that I had concluded with, in solidarity with the Mexican governments’ decisions; it appears that the week after the protests showed limited change. Staff began to return to the robotic roles of office behavior of duties and expectations, classes commenced, and even many teachers went back to uninspiring standard lecturing of students. Were innovation, opportunity, and change at a loss? Rather than admitting guilt, those individuals in power, clearly appeared to attempt to revert to their ways before the protests, hoping this would not be noticed.

One of their first acts was to get rid of the American on campus. The relieving me of my post was unjust. I was the scapegoat. I was easily blamed because I speak loudly. It is my New York nature to speak out. I did not go on the grounds during the protest for a clear reason, the week of June 7^th. I did not want the individuals at the school to manipulate the media and information, claiming that it was the American who started the protest, and that he was the one that was the problem. This Protest was the voice of the Students, the Administrative staff, and the Teachers. This was their standing up for their rights as participants in higher-education to make a higher standard at the university and not to have the entire university regress to a campaign ticket for just one individual Rectora/President.

            Those in power are ungrateful; those in superior positions are ungrateful of their staff and teachers, and even of their hardworking students. They are ungrateful of all the work I did and my fellow coordinators to try to improve the institution. The administrators and the faculty, who work hard, give their best energies to commit to a quality of education standards that allow the school to carry on under the quickly declining lack of accountability at the institution. From dirty water, no toilet paper, limited technology, limited investment in improving teachers with training and professional opportunities, lack of scholarship money, lack of practical hands-on activities in student’s majors, and more; yet all these levels of quality are achievable and the ability to excel above these standards is reachable. Where is all this money going? It is hard to speak truth to power when the directors, they know who they are, and the Rectora’s staff, do not want to seek transparency and admit to collusion.

            I am still trying to think of the best words to use here. I appreciate and I respect Peace Corps’ decision to allow me to close my service early without any marks on my profile. But I am also willing to admit that I am disappointed that they were not willing to investigate the situation further before releasing me from my service. I had warned them for months not to trust a specific counterpart, director in the university, who manipulated and disrespected my candid work, for his own benefit. The failure, when I sought to assist and further advance employee’s at the university for a nomination process that would train them and give them opportunities to bring new skills to their jobs, which would better advance the school, was due to his meddling and clear corruption; but my organization still listened to him rather than reaching out to reliable sources. My organization has had a history of trying to avoid controversy and suppressing stories. Certainly, my case is not extreme in comparison to cases, as seen in the country Benin in 2011, when a counterpart actually killed a female volunteer for reporting his raping of female students.

            No. My case is not extreme. But maybe it could have been. I am frustrated with the university that I was working in. In deed, I witnessed many activities that limited and suppressed growth. The university has so much potential and the possibilities to strengthen students, administrators, and teachers are great to make a powerful institution. Those chances are still reachable with the right, quality leadership. I have a commitment to Honesty and Justice. If my letter and previous letters on FaceBook do not appear Objective to you, it is because there is a simple fact. When one sees shit on a table, Objectively, it is clear that what is on the table is shit. One cannot be any more neutral about the facts on the table. The people in power do not want you to admit that the shit is theirs, on the table. But it smells and it is rotten. I cannot just bury my head in the sand when I see obstruction. I have too much passion to ignore and too much passion to limit myself to artificial diplomacy. That is where Peace Corps and I diverge in direction.

            The truth is the Directors and the Rectora of the University do not have a deep commitment or passion for education. They do not care about the individual well-being of workers and students. For them, these are just numbers and pesos for their daily routine to improve their selfish power and to maintain hierarchy. Just analyze their continual actions over time and one can see the genuine or lack of genuine commitments and ability to make the most of constructive feedback. They want the slim financial necessities so that they can continue to put funds in their own pockets for political and commercial benefit. They do not want to improve the quality of their job, to make a positive pedagogical institution for the overall community. Education should not be a political agenda. The students should be educated to the best that the school offers so that they can develop the skills to make a greater Mexico. They should not be trained just to be factory workers for American, German or Japanese companies. They should be guided through the innovative thought process that helps them achieve new technological goals.  

When the school fires lawyers and accountants, who have such blatant data, this sends the public red flags. But they say this is how it is, here. I feel like my criticism of the university authority is parallel to my disgust in the American President Donald Trump’s actions and lack of passion for moral and ethical standards. Trump firing Comey because Trump is being investigated, makes me reflect that I was fired by the corrupted Directors, because they did not want to have their abusive behavior and coercion revealed. Former President Jimmy Carter once said, when he was president, that we have a “Crisis of Democracy.” What we have today is a “Crisis of True Leadership.” Take responsibility for your own actions and do not blame others for your lack of education or community standards. No excuses, Just Results.

The result of my being expelled from the university was because I was not obedient and blind.  When one sees protestors risking their jobs and lives to stand up for injustice in a declining system, why should I ignore the voice that they promote? Their voice makes the world better and the school better. In the end, even though I was not physically in the protest, I was blamed for my moments of blunt honesty on the Internet and in public, when surprisingly my US President tweets atrocious, malicious comments on a daily basis. Why is someone in a diplomatic position, not sending Trump home, and relieving him of his service?

I have no regrets. I have no regret in directly telling the Director, who manipulated the situation to get me expelled, the truth about his character and lack of ethics. Besides, the same conclusions that I had come to, were the same conclusions that the Mexican government stated on the Friday of the closing of the protest, that the Rectora was not experienced enough and was neglecting significant aspects of her job. She could have followed the next week after the protest with positive change and begin building trust with the students and faculty. She could have been creating an environment that made thousands of individuals at the school begin to see the possibility of voting for her in her plans of running in a future election. She has decided that she is a terrible politician, who does not care about individual votes or trust between her average citizens and her self-focused political ambitions. What frustrates me the most about her is that she claims to be a candidate that says she cares about Women’s Rights, but the individuals, who have been exploited the most at the university under her leadership, are the women who work in the administrative offices for overextended hours and for very little pay, and when they speak up, they get fired.

I will miss the important people at the university, and the important people are not the insecure directors or the negligent Rectora. The important people at the school are the students, the administrators, and the faculty, who follow a quality of standard that is truthful, goal driven, and promoting the ethics that the university deserves. I am aware, just as many, that the protest was not the end of the problems of the school, but the start of the process to hold people accountable for making the decisions necessary for success. Several of us refuse to be silent.