Cuesta College board approves anti-racism resolution as critics urge trustee to resign
More than 150 people attended Cuesta College’s board of trustees meeting on Wednesday to call for the board president’s resignation and ask that the board revise and amend its equity and anti-racism resolution.
That resolution passed unanimously, though student trustee Jesus Cendejas abstained from voting.
The board meeting was conducted virtually via video conferencing app Zoom, although some board members attended the meeting in person at the Associated Students Auditorium on Cuesta College’s San Luis Obispo campus. Cuesta College has three campuses across San Luis Obispo County and a student population of around 13,000.
Board president Peter Sysak has faced pressure to resign due to several posts he shared on Facebook that critics called racist, homophobic, misogynistic and anti-immigrant.
Some of those posts, which were shared on Sysak’s personal Facebook page, said transgender people are mentally unwell, called for the deportation of undocumented workers, decried the Black Lives Matter movement and promoted sexual assault, according to screenshots of the posts obtained by The Tribune.
Sysak did not address the public outcry regarding his now-deleted social media posts at Wednesday’s meeting, nor the calls for his resignation. The other board members did not suggest resignation or censure for Sysak, despite many calls for them to do so.
“Over a dozen donors have already contacted me as a result of The Tribune article” about Sysak’s social media posts, Anneka Scranton, who serves on the Cuesta College Foundation, said during the public comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting. “Comments range from ‘OMG’ to ‘yikes,’ ‘disgusting,’ ‘deplorable;’ ‘unacceptable.’ ”
“For people who are not familiar with all the things that Cuesta does, this is really a black eye,” Scranton said of Sysak’s Facebook posts. “It would seem that the Foundation as well as the Board of Trustees have high stakes in this issue.”
Scranton called for Sysak’s resignation, and the dozens of other people who spoke during the hour-long public comment period did as well.
The community college’s board meeting on Wednesday rew an unusually high turnout; typically only a couple of community members are present at its meetings.
Local activists Tianna Arata, a Cuesta College alumna, and Amman Asfaw were among those who attended the meeting to voice their support for Sysak’s resignation.
“We have no room in an educational facility for loud and boisterous bigotry, and the support for the Proud Boys — a white supremacist, domestic terrorist group — is utterly disgusting,” Arata said. “On top of this, we see systemic racism being alive and well with old, racist, white men like Peter Sysak holding positions of power that they do not deserve.”
Also in attendance were students from other local community colleges as well as Cuesta College teachers, employee union representatives and community members.
Steve Leone, who chairs Cuesta College’s English department, said Wednesday that Sysak’s social media conduct violated Cuesta College’s No Place for Hate resolution passed in 2010, as well as the board’s code of ethics and the community college’s mission and values. Leone also noted that the faculty have discussed a “no confidence vote” regarding Sysak.
Cuesta College Classified United Employees president Rebecca Carter said that Sysak’s social media posts will be discussed at the union’s next meeting on Nov. 12.
“As president of the classified staff, I have been charged by our membership to hold our board of trustees and college accountable in acknowledging the systemic racism that continues to exist in our country and educational systems,” Carter said. “As members of the Cuesta community, we should all be standing as allies in the efforts against racism, and our hearts go out to those suffering because of hate and violence in our community of San Luis Obispo.”
The Cuesta College Academic Senate will also discuss Sysak’s “deeply troubling” Facebook posts in its next meeting, senate president Roland Finger said, and may release a resolution on the media posts.
Cuesta College board passes anti-racism resolution, pledges to revise it
At Wednesday’s meeting, Cuesta College board members said that they should have passed its equity and anti-racism resolution sooner. The board was told to pass such a resolution in June by the California Community Colleges chancellor.
The resolution was first brought forward by the board on Sept. 2.
The resolution originally began by saying, “Aware of centuries of institutional racism, inequity, and oppression set upon Black Americans and people of color; and noting with deep concern the systematic racism, acts of discrimination, and hate crimes experienced by Black Americans and people of color that results in social and economic barriers to success.”
But Sysak and fellow board member Angela Mitchell, who is retiring after 20 years on the board, argued that the term “systemic racism” should be changed to “structural racism.” Additionally, the board removed the word “deep” from the phrase “noting with deep concern,” among other changes.
That portion of the resolution adopted at Wednesday’s meeting now reads: “Aware of institutional racism, inequity, and oppression set upon Black Americans, Latinx, and people of color; and noting with concern the structural racism, acts of discrimination, and hate crimes experienced by Black Americans, Latinx, and people of color that result in social and economic barriers to success.”
The board said it will appoint a subcommittee to further revise and develop the existing resolution, as urged by Cuesta College Superintendent and President Jill Stearns at the meeting.
Some community members at the board meeting said the new resolution is “white washed” and does not address anti-racism and equity on behalf of other religious and cultural groups, including LGBTQ people.
In keeping with California’s Ralph M. Brown Act, which dictates open meeting access and general structure, board members were not allowed to directly respond to public comments during the meeting. However, board members thanked those who attended for voicing their opinions.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Stearns said “it is hard to hear criticism,” but that “we can use that it drive toward excellence.”
“Let us recognize the power of our words and commit to reflecting the inclusive institution we serve,” Stearns added. “Let us acknowledge that our students deserve our best.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
