It’s official: McPhetres is out

After weeks of “is she” or “isn’t she,” Agnes McPhetres is no longer a member of the Northern Marianas College Board of Regents, now that Gov. Benigno Fitial accepted her resignation letter yesterday.

Questions have swirled about the status of McPhetres since March 6, when her resignation letter was dated.

The board said McPhetres resignation became automatically effective when they received the letter on that date. But Fitial disagreed, saying he never received the letter and, as far as he was concerned, McPhetres was still an active member of the board.

All that changed yesterday when, according to the Governor’s Office, the letter was stamped and received.

“With this delivered letter, the question of Ms. McPhetres’ status with the board has now been clearly resolved,” Fitial said in a statement. “I respect her decision and I believe she made this decision with the best interests of the college in mind.”

Previously, according to the statement, McPhetres met with Fitial about resigning from the board but did not actually deliver a resignation letter to him.

In the letter to Fitial dated March 6, McPhetres, a former NMC president, voiced her frustration and disappointment with the management practices being employed by the current president, Dr. Carmen Fernandez, who McPhetres said lacks transparency and forthrightness in dealing with the board and the accrediting commission.

“I have lost faith and trust in the president’s ability to lead our institution into the future. Under such circumstances, I can no longer be an effective board member,” McPhetres told the governor.

Her resignation was confirmed at the time by regents chair Charles V. Cepeda, who said he received a copy of McPhetres’ resignation letter addressed to Fitial. But two days later, McPhetres submitted a new letter to the board, rescinding her decision and canceling her first letter.

Fitial then wrote to Cepeda, saying he still considered McPhetres an active member of the board because he hadn’t received nor accepted the letter from the former regent, although it was leaked to the media.

The Board of Regents’ legal counsels were to prepare an opinion on the issue. But it had yet to be finalized before Fitial announced yesterday he was accepting McPhetres’ resignation.