To move forward from harassment scandal, Fresno State president needs sweeping change
If Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval requires any perspective on how to move forward from the scandal that brought down California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro and tore a hole in the fabric of the university Castro left behind, he could do much worse than visit a cherry orchard.
Fortunately, Fresno State grows two varieties of cherries among the 190 acres of campus orchards that keep the Gibson Farm Market stocked with fruits, nuts and olive oil. It’s cherry trees, though, that are most susceptible to the ominously named Cherry X Disease, which causes infected trees to produce pale, leathery skinned fruit. Eventually, they stop producing fruit altogether.
Cherry X Disease is a pathogen spread from tree to tree by tiny insects called leafhoppers. There is no treatment. If a tree shows symptoms, it must be removed, along with the stump. Because if you don’t, every tree in the orchard will become infected.
How large an ax is Jimenez-Sandoval willing to swing? That’s the metaphorical question.
I believe Jiménez-Sandoval when he says he’s committed to building the type of university that “collectively succeeds” in creating a safe and respectful environment for the entire campus community.
And when Jiménez-Sandoval says “everything is on the table” with regard to how Fresno State’s Human Resources, Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation departments — none of which come off well in USA Today’s investigation — are staffed and structured within the university hierarchy, I believe him for that, too.
If anything, Fresno State’s tenderfoot president comes across as very believable.
But recently, when Jiménez-Sandoval named the people in the task force created to thoroughly access how sexual harassment and discrimination claims are reported and investigated, a tinge of doubt crept in.
That’s because the list contained the names of campus administrators who are and were waist-deep in the muck. Specifically, Title IX and Clery compliance director Jamie Pontius-Hogan, deputy Title IX coordinator Erin Boele and associate vice president for human resources Marylou Mendoza-Miller.
All three were in their positions for at least part of the regrettable tenure of former vice president of student affairs Frank Lamas. But the extensive reporting makes clear there were dozens of other claims involving sexual misconduct, gendered violence or stalking that were woefully investigated or stuffed into a drawer, creating a culture of fear and despair for students and campus personnel who report abuses.
“There are people on that task force who’ve caused harm,” said Jessica Schulz, a lecturer in Fresno State’s Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department.
“Both Title IX officers shouldn’t be on there, nor should they be involved in Title IX at all.”
Sure, it would’ve raised eyebrows for Jiménez-Sandoval to form a Title IX task force and exclude the university’s two Title IX officers. (Pontius-Hogan and Boele both have other duties as well.) But what a statement that would’ve made to the rest of campus.
Jiménez-Sandoval previously announced Fresno State would add three new positions to its Title IX and DHR departments, a necessary step. But how much will really change unless the reporting structure that’s a proven failure does too?
“A deputy Title IX coordinator doesn’t have any power,” Schulz said. “That person would fall under the existing staff that is there, and I feel like this is problematic, to say the least.”
Who really runs Fresno State?
At one point this past week, six different Fresno State organizational charts were open as browser tabs on my computer. So many of the lines led to the same person: Debbie Adishian-Astone.
Adishian-Astone is the university’s vice president for administration and the chief financial officer who, besides overseeing the Title IX and human resources departments, has a list of responsibilities so lengthy and varied there’s hardly a corner of campus where her influence doesn’t reach.
As several Fresno State faculty and staff members have explained to me over the years, Adishian-Astone is the person who really runs the university. Not the president.
Wonder if Jiménez-Sandoval knew that before he got promoted — or how quickly he learned.
By all accounts, Adishian-Astone is a smart and skilled administrator. (Wearing all those hats, she’d have to be.) She’s also someone who evidently supported and protected Castro, helping ensure any dirt from Lamas didn’t soil his track record, right up until the point when it was more expedient to throw her former boss under the bus.
The relationship between Castro and Lamas “was so close,” Adishian-Astone told The Bee’s Robert Kuwada, “nothing was going to come between it.”
Skilled administrators always know how to absolve themselves of blame, while also making sure to absolve their hand-picked subordinates. It’s how they survive.
I asked Schulz, a PhD who has been a sexual violence confidential advocate on a college campus, what steps Fresno State can take to ensure meaningful change. Her suggestions included elevating the authority of the Title IX coordinator by making it a cabinet-level position and having that person report directly to the president.
That reporting structure won’t do much good if the president is part of the problem — as Fresno State learned all too well — but would certainly represent an improvement over the status quo. One where administrators prioritize protecting their own interests, as well as the image of the university, above all else.
It probably behooves Jiménez-Sandoval to wait until after CSU completes its independent investigation into how Fresno State handled the Lamas affair before making any sweeping changes or personnel reassignments. The findings could be ugly enough to give him all the cover he needs.
But if between now and then Fresno State’s president gets spotted wandering around the campus orchard looking at cherry trees, you’ll understand why.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
