But the dark cloud hanging over the government backed institution was finally lifted yesterday after 12 months of turmoil.
It was a smouldering day last May when then College President, Dr Rodney Smith, addressed hundreds of COB graduates.
He spoke passionately about the future of students and made a point of saying the most important lesson any of them could learn was “how to learn.”
But when he read the next portion of text, he could not have imagined his days at COB would be numbered and the course of the college would change forever.
Days after he made the speech, the country was stunned to hear Dr Smith admit to plagiarism.
The former New York City’s Ramapo College President confessed to using information from a speech that was sent to him in 2002 by President of New York University, John Sexton. But his admission was not enough to quell the controversy and save his job.
After a brief trip to the hospital and months of various prominent organisations, including the Free National Movement, calling for his resignation, Dr Smith quit the high-profile job.
However, the education expert failed to dodge the headlines.
Even after buckling under the pressure, Dr Smith added to the controversy by claiming he had been forced out by the Council. In a copy of his alleged speech he made the charge when he spoke to COB faculty and staff on the first day of the new academic year for the Fall 2005 semester. In response, the Council released a report by a panel convened to investigate the affair. It was revealed the panel had called for Dr Smith’s resignation.
While Bahamians were still reeling over the end to the Rodney Smith saga, two well-known COB faculty members had applied for the job. In a statement, the College Council said Acting President Dr Rhonda Chipman-Johnson and Vice President for Research, Planning & Development, Dr Pandora Johnson were being considered for the position. Both have been employed with the institution for more than 25 years, beginning as lecturers and occupying various administrative positions in subsequent years. After almost two months of deafening silence on whether the college was any closer to having a new president, Council members said they hoped to have the position filled by December. But the winter deadline came and went and the presidential race dragged on.
That was until March 20 when the controversy took a new twist after Janyne Hodder, a Canadian academic, was officially announced as the third presidential hopeful during a Council press conference.
But the announcement caused uproar after two College stakeholder bodies claimed the candidates were not being equally assessed οΎ– Ms Hodder being the Council’s “favourite candidate”.
In rallies at the College and Rawson Square, Union of Tertiary Educators in The Bahamas and College of The Bahamas Union of Students representatives said they were not against the Canadian candidate, but they were furious over the way the Council had handled the matter.
This allegedly prompted the Council attempt to send a high-level delegation to Canada to persuade Ms Hodder to become the next president of COB. But before this, yet another presidential hopeful appeared to enter the race.
The hunt took on a new twist when Bahamian-born scholar Sydney McPhee was mentioned as a possible candidate. Dr McPhee, the Middle Tennessee State University President, was only approached about the position after Ms Hodder had allegedly turned it down.
Then last week the Guardian broke the news that Ms Hodder was back in the frame.
Yesterday she was finally crowned the new president to end a year-long saga with more twists than a Dan Brown novel.
By: JASMIN BONIMY and IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
