A week after his removal as Inter Club Council Chair of Programsbecause he jumped into the Main Quad fountain on Club Day, Levi Rosenthal apologized to his peers and ICC representatives at the Feb. 13 ICC meeting.

“I apologize for what I did as ICC Chair of Programs, because as an elected leader you have to think before you act,” said Rosenthal.

However, he stressed that he was not apologizing as a personality independent of the ICC, because of his mantra to have fun and live life to the fullest. “I wanted to make it clear what I was apologizing for,” he said.

ICC Chair Elaine Smith and ICC Chair of Finance Jonathan Yeung, who are fulfilling Rosenthal’s duties until a new team of ICC officers is sworn in on March 12, were not happy with his appearance.

“His apology is totally inadequate,” said Yeung. “It did not, in essence, address what he did, but just gave him a good stepping stone to walk down from. It wasn’t professional.”

“It wasn’t just [Club Day], it’s been an accumulation of things,” Smith said. He wasn’t fulfilling his duties and responsibilities, he wouldn’t come to the officer meetings and he wouldn’t fulfill his office hours, she said. “He would do everything he could to put himself out there, and not for the clubs, but for himself.”

Rosenthal said, “My biggest criticism to [Jonathan and Elaine] is ‘hey, while you guys were doing the upper level stuff I was down there in the dirt, where were you’?”

Rosenthal urges De Anza students to consider recent removals of leaders on campus, “When you see two leaders being impeached, there is a problem. You have to really ask yourself, ‘Is it the leader who got impeached or is it something that’s going on in the organization that people aren’t seeing?’ ” Rosenthal said he would preach to the latter. “There needs to be some radical change,” he said.

He was referring to the no confidence vote passed by the De Anza Associated Student Body Senate last month, which removed Robin Claassen from presidency and replaced him with Vice President Rahela Sami.

In lieu of Rosenthal’s public apology and admittance of guilt, many ICC representatives remain unaffected by Rosenthal’s actions on Club Day, and some applaud it.

“When he said he owed us all an apology I told him ‘you know what? I don’t think you owe us an apology at all. I think you did something that was very you. I don’t think there was anything wrong with it,’ ” said Tad Koch, ICC representative of Auto Tech, a club furthering the interest in the De Anza Automotive Technology Department.

“I understand that he represents everyone, but as Chair of Programs he is supposed to project that the clubs can have fun and represent themselves, so I think if he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be doing his job.”

Rosenthal said, on a final note, “If I could do it all over again, to be really honest, I think I would have done the same damn thing. Despite me being kicked out, I think I did make a statement, and I did make a difference.”

Last Wednesday, Bo Yin was elected as the next ICC chair, to be sworn in after the current term ends on March 12. When asked about Rosenthal’s actions on Club Day, Yin said, “I would have done something in another way that is more interesting.”

At De Anza College’s Club Day on Jan. 31, Rosenthal, who had painted a black star around his right eye, removed his shirt and imitated a member from the rock band Kiss, as he jumped into the fountain and sang the lyrics of Kiss’ song “Rock and Roll All Night.”

Director of Student Activities John Cognetta and Dean of Student Development Michelle LeBleu-Burns informed him a week later that he had been put on disciplinary probation, removing him from office. They cited Rosenthal on a violation of mutual respect between himself and the students who were representing their clubs at the event.

Rosenthal’s probation will remain in effect until fall quarter and prevents him from participating in extracurricular activities at De Anza or holding any student office position.

Luis Cardenas is a staff reporter for La Voz. Contact him at [email protected].