Part IX: More Scandals at Cleveland Community College!!!– Non Existent Office of Executive Vice President??? Dr. Shannon Kennedy??? –Report and evaluation by Robert A. Williams

Much ado has been made about the alleged shenanigans of the Cleveland Community College President Dr. L. Steve Thornburg. His lack of judgment in his college computer system password “fuckshannon69” and various variations such as “fuckedshannon69” and his long parking sessions sessions with Dr. Kennedy in the college front parking lot with all those office windows overlooking the College Number 1 and Number 2 persons and their obvious displays of “something is going on here.” But factually, there are so many scandals going on at the Cleveland Community College right now that we are going to address them one at a time.

Although starting with the college Board of Trustees doing nothing for so long in regard to President Thornburg and Dr. Kennedy is scandal all by itself. We are going to go on back to the beginning.

Let’s draw some ground rules before we get started with the details and allegations involved in this article. This article is not a criminal prosecution, punishable with fines, jail or prison time, such that the accused has Constitutional Rights such as the Fifth Amendment where the accused has the right to remain silent. Everybody mentioned in this article, either by name or position, is a public figure who is expected to act in an honest and ethical manner as well as within the law by virtue of their position of operating or overseeing the Cleveland Community College-a public institution supported by taxpayer funding. Public figures such as the Staff and Board of Trustees at the Cleveland Community College have an obligation to be accountable to the people and to the taxpayers. We will assure, no, we guarantee, that every person involved in this article has the opportunity to respond in writing to anything in this article and such response will be published in the same manner in which this article is published. We will assume, that pending a verifiable and written denial that anything in this article is materially incorrect, that everything in this article is indeed correct. Anybody that remains silent is silent at their own risk.

Any others with knowledge and information of the details regarding this article may also provide their information. Total confidentiality will be maintained as requested.

CCC President:
Dr. Thornburg has been the President of the Community College for many years, starting back in the Cleveland Tech days. Lots of expansions and lots of money spent over the years. The Board of Trustees over all these years were mostly rubber stamps who attended Board meetings, listened to only one side, allowed no public input and voted yes to everything that came down the pike. Most Boards in Cleveland County do the same thing and most of the other boards have the same problems that CCC has now, just not as well publicized. We will get into those other boards later, but right now we are only going to deal with the Cleveland Community College and their Board of Trustees. At present CCC President Thornburg has presented his resignation in the form of a notice to retire. The Board of Trustees, at their discretion, could and perhaps should terminate Thornburg effectively immediately.

CCC Executive Vice President:
Dr. Shannon Kennedy has followed a different path to her position as CCC Executive Vice President and allegedly has made statements that she will be the first woman President of a Community College. With the sooner or later departure of President Thornburg, Kennedy may be expecting to take over as the President of CCC as soon as Thornburg is gone.

To my recollection, Shannon Kennedy’s rise to power at CCC began with her role as a reporter for the Shelby Headline News, produced by CCC. Then Kennedy attended Gardner Webb, got her Doctorate in something, took a position at Gardner Webb, left Gardner Webb under unclear circumstances and was hired in a relatively low position at CCC sometime around 2007. But Kennedy didn’t stay in that relatively low position very long.

Thanks to CCC President Steve Thornburg, Kennedy’s career at CCC went up like a rocket. A career that went up too fast to escape attention. A career that went up allegedly too fast to stay inside CCC promotion policies. A promotion that went up to the Executive Vice President Position when there allegedly was no such position at CCC. Word is Thornburg promoted Kennedy into that Executive Vice President Position by creating that position without Board of Trustee approval and without advertising and interviewing a top level position as CCC administration HR policy required. Word is when the Board of Trustees did learn about what Thornburg did, they went along because they thought they would look stupid letting such a thing happen right before their closed eyes. Well, here it is a few years later and the whole CCC Board of Trustees sure looks stupid now. Along with the School Board and Commissioners too.

Anyway, Dr. Thornburg basically turned the overall operations at Cleveland Community College over to Dr. Kennedy, perhaps at the ambitious and aggressive Kennedy’s insistence over the bedazzled Thornburg’s compromised judgement. Dr. Kennedy basically just took over the power structure at CCC and like the old saying goes, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Anybody that balked at doing things that were improper were immediately replaced by those who were willing or coerced into doing things that were improper. And so it goes, Cleveland Community College was morphed a good place to work, to teach and to learn into a place where most everybody was job scared, afraid to teach like they should teach and where the learning was dumbed down and unqualified students were put into programs that they did not qualify for. All in the name of more funding. More funding for CCC as the more students, qualified AND unqualified students could be run through and CCC could gain more funding, whether or not the students learned anything or not.

I have researched the CCC Board of Trustee minutes of meetings and other CCC documents and can find no information that shows the office of Executive Vice President ever existed, was properly created or properly filled. Perhaps such information exists and is just too deep in the records to find easily. It is just as likely or maybe more likely that the information I have provided in this article is totally correct. Thornburg, Kennedy, Trustees and anyone else, provide information that shows the things at CCC described in this article were actually done correctly and I will publish every word. If not, just pack your bags and move out from Cleveland College. That goes for Board of Trustees too.

Folks, it has become obvious to me and many more than Dr. Steve Thornburg, Dr. Shannon Kennedy and a few other supporting cast of characters should be run off from Cleveland Community College. Thornburg is on his way out and Kennedy should be right behind. Followed closely by the majority of the Board of Trustees who refuse to do their jobs.

Stay tuned for article Part X of this sickening saga of scandals at CCC and the foolish Board of Trustees that refuse to do the right thing. Part X will concentrate on the problems at CCC have gotten to this point-the Board of Trustees themselves. The School Board and the Commissioners role in all of this will be published soon. Also a rundown of the problems, the history and the cover-up.

Also, stay tuned for other articles about other news and situations going on in Cleveland County, NC and the USA that need your attention. Read the phony accounts that may dribble out from the Star at your own risk. But remember, Cleveland County can only become a good place to live, work and worship by fixing the many problems and keeping them fixed on a continuing basis.. And most problems can only be fixed by your vote on Election Day. And good, honest and ethical people running for office.