RSCC District Chancellor Raul Rodriguez. Picture courtesy of El Don.
Opinion Editorial: The Rancho Santiago Community College District’s leadership needs a reboot By Ryan Ahari Saudi Arabia’s government is notorious for its horrendous track record on human rights. The Gulf nation severely punishes its LGBT community, prohibits women from driving, and refuses entry to anyone whose passport indicates previous entry into Israel. Keeping this in mind, why would any reasonable person, let alone a local community-based public entity, conduct business with such a repressive government? Two government-run technical schools in Saudi Arabia awarded the Rancho Santiago Community College District Foundation with a $105 million contract. The contract stipulates that the Foundation will improve and strengthen the schools’ infrastructures. Raúl Rodríguez, the District’s Chancellor, rationalized the contract by announcing the Foundation could receive up to an 8% return. An 8% return on a gross contract of $105 million is a pitiful profit margin and proves that Rodríguez is an educator and not a businessman. The contract further requires the Foundation to enter into a partnership with a corporation formed under Saudi Arabian laws. Continue reading