Rally Scheduled for Fired College Coach

Supporters of fired Ventura College basketball Coach Virgil Watson plan to rally today at noon in the campus quad.

The tenure review committee originally decided to renew Watson’s contract until it met with Ventura College President Larry Calderon.

“And then they changed their mind and recommended that Virgil be dismissed and we want to know why,” said Louis Bryant, rally organizer.

When community college district trustees voted 4 to 1 last week to fire Watson, they cited several reasons, including allegations of recruiting violations, poor teaching ability and a lack of basic communication and math skills.

“That’s a smoke screen,” Bryant said. “They want you to believe that it’s his teaching skills.”

Watson replaced Phil Matthews as basketball coach on an interim basis before the 1995-96 season and led the team to its second consecutive state championship. He was hired as a full-time instructor and coach at Ventura for this school year.

“For two years he was doing a great job,” Bryant said. “And then when he came close to getting tenure, they figured out he doesn’t have good teaching skills. They are discriminating against this black man and are trying to railroad him out.”

Watson’s attorney, Lou Carpiac, met Tuesday with representatives of the American Federation of Teachers--the community college teachers’ union--and said it will file a grievance with the district in regard to possible violation of Watson’s review and evaluation process.

Carpiac also plans to file a separate appeal with the district based on allegations of violation of due process, privacy rights and character defamation.