Jim CatanzaroA Chattanooga State instructor says top administrators tried to intimidate teachers to vote in support of college President Jim Catanzaro during the faculty’s recent vote of no confidence.
One instructor in the Tennessee College of Applied Technology — a division of Chatt State — said a department head visited with instructors and lobbied them not to vote against Catanzaro. The instructor, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said the department head in the technical college tried to downplay recent controversy surrounding the college president, who is under investigation by both the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury and the Tennessee Board of Regents.
“He talked about how it was just a bunch of lies and a bunch of rumors,” the instructor said.
That administrator also implied that voting no confidence in Catanzaro would have consequences, he said.
“I assured him I was voting no confidence and his face turned beet red,” the instructor said. “He said when you vote on things you don’t know anything about they have a way of coming back to haunt you.”