It’s about time the Santa Clarita Valley started paying attention to this. Our own beloved Master’s University is under attack and not from the outside. It’s a rot the emanates from within and permeates the veil of secrecy that has long been in place.
Any organization, let alone a Christian one, must seek first to be truthful, honest and above reproach. The Bible directs us to cooperate with authorities, to be dutiful taxpayers and always seek to share Jesus Christ with those around us.
It’s possible that The Master’s University administration and board has forgotten that.
If you are a small and family-owned business, if you hire your drunken brother-in-law to handle your accounts payable, that is your business. If he screws it up, that is your issue.
However, if you are a larger entity with dozens of employees and many customers (students/parents) who are depending on the integrity of the school to be upheld so that their degrees are meaningful, issues of impropriety become much larger.
For example, what if your mid-sized company hired the president’s son-in-law to run the business? This same son-in-law was also awarded contracts to do work for the company. So, this guy oversees the very contracts that he was awarded. Doesn’t anyone see an issue with this?
Apparently, the board didn’t.
Didn’t anyone on the board say, “Hey, we live in a valley loaded with media and marketing firms. Let’s pick a real good one to help us market the school.” Instead, they picked a person who was closely affiliated with the president.
Didn’t anyone on the board throw up a red flag about this?
One tragic aspect about this is that enrollment at Master’s has continued to decline, resulting in a recent decision to decrease tuition at the school in an attempt to bring in more students. So, the dollars spent on this marketing company have been in vain. The effort has been a failure.
The board didn’t notice this either?
As an aside, when you are a “high-end” brand that offers a unique product or service, raising the price actually serves better than cutting prices. What would happen if Mercedes cut prices to make them equivalent with Toyota? Yep. All the Mercedes cachet would be gone.
The marketing at Master’s has been just plain foolish.
There is one ray of sunshine in all of this. This veil of secrecy is beginning to lift. Many faculty, staff and students are beginning to come forward and tell their stories.
The fear once wielded by the administration is melting away now that these excellent brothers and sisters in Christ are no longer intimidated by bullies and thugs. Tell your stories — our local media folks want to hear what you have to say.
You no longer have anything to fear. There are many good people who want to help. Master’s needs to be restored to the wonderful and excellent school that it has always been. Your stories will help in that process of change and renewal.
Do I sound like I am being hard on the board of directors? You bet I am, since it was their responsibility to oversee school operations and ensure the integrity of the institution.
Master’s has about a month to clean up this mess. The accreditation committee comes back at the beginning of November. There is still time to reform the institution and get Master’s back on the right track.
Again, I call for the immediate and unconditional resignation of all the members of the board of Master’s University. It is time to clean out the cancer and only an independent, humble and honest board can do so.
The new board should be made of local pastors, knowledgeable local university educators (Dianne Van Hook?), and Master’s faculty/staff. Also, the new board must contain women and more persons of color.
Steve Lunetta is a resident of Santa Clarita and loves the students, faculty, and staff of The Master’s University and supports them 100 percent. Let’s fix this thing. He can be reached at [email protected].
