Fresno State academic senate votes no confidence in Castro; wants more Title IX training
The academic senate at Fresno State on Monday passed three more resolutions related to the university’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against a former top university administrator, including a vote of no confidence in former president and California State University chancellor Joseph I. Castro to join the professoriate of the largest four-year public university system in the country.
Castro, who resigned as chancellor on Feb. 17, holds retreat rights as a tenured professor of leadership and public policy to the Orfalea School of Business at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
The former Fresno State president through a settlement with the CSU will be in an executive transition program through Feb. 17, 2023 and has been classified as an advisor to the board with an annual salary of $401,364, plus for six months a housing allowance of $7,917 per month.
A draft of that no-confidence resolution, introduced by Michael Jenkins, a professor in the Lyles College of Engineering, states: “The Academic Senate of California State University, Fresno notes that through former Chancellor Castro’s words and actions in this matter, he has violated the trust of not only the students, staff and faculty of the CSU but also the people of the state of California. Therefore, Academic Senate of California State University, Fresno affirms that Dr. Castro has demonstrated that he not only does not deserve to hold the rank of tenured professor but that he is unqualified to teach and/or conduct research in leadership and public policy …”
The academic senate also on Monday passed a resolution calling for a thorough review of current training and to implement frequent and more intensive training for Title IX office staff and for administrators, faculty and staff. The other resolution was to acknowledge harm resulting from sexual harassment by former vice president of student affairs Frank Lamas and affirming support of victims and survivors by the campus community.
The resolutions were passed with 74%, 85% and 97% of the academic senators voting in their favor.
At its previous meeting, it passed a resolution calling for an independent investigation into the actions of Castro and university administrators when handling sexual harassment allegations against Lamas, who received a $260,000 settlement when leaving the university as well as a letter of recommendation from Castro.
Castro resigned under fire as CSU chancellor with condemnation coming from state legislators and students following a USA Today report that detailed how he had handled the allegations against Lamas, who has denied that he acted inappropriately.
The former Fresno State president never formally disciplined the former vice president, and also provided personal counsel, brought in a trainer and despite complaints or allegations that started very early in his time at the university continued to give positive performance evaluations and annual merit pay increases.
The CSU board of trustees has launched an independent investigation into Fresno State and its handling of sexual harassment allegations, and last month passed a resolution targeting a review and changes to retreat rights for university administrators including an end to its executive transition program until the board has reviewed recommendations provided by a task force and taken action.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 7:32 PM.