Cuesta College trustee won’t resign despite calls from critics: ‘I will not be bullied’
Community members repeatedly called for Cuesta College board president Peter Sysak to resign during a contentious Cuesta College board of trustees special meeting on Thursday, held after Sysak shared social media posts that critics have called racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
Sysak’s fellow trustees — Mary Strobridge, Patrick Mullen, Barbara George, Angela Mitchell and student trustee Jesus Cendejas — were among those calling for Sysak’s resignation.
But Sysak said Thursday that he does not plan to step down.
With Sysak abstaining from the vote, Cuesta College’s board of trustees unanimously voted Thursday to form an ad hoc committee to investigate Sysak’s now-deleted Facebook posts and present their findings at the next board meeting on Dec. 9. The committee will consist of two board members — Strobridge and Mullen — with a Cuesta College human resources employee acting as the moderator for the committee.
That committee will also bring back recommendations for the Cuesta College board to form a broader committee to advise the board on equity and diversity matters.
During the Dec. 9 meeting, the board may choose to censure Sysak, which “is an official expression of disapproval of a board member’s actions by the board,” according to the board’s policies.
In a statement during Thursday’s meeting, Sysak said that he intends to stay on the board for the duration of his term, which ends in 2022.
“The college has failed to bring ... inclusion and diversity to ourselves and community. And this is what I’m fighting for in my district,” Sysak said during Thursday’s meeting. “These verbal and written attacks have been an assault on my character and integrity. I will not be bullied by these attacks. I will continue to show support for my community and the college community to the best of my ability.”
Sysak also defended his social media posts and said they were “meant to provoke communication from both sides of the issue.”
“I was accused of being a racist, homophobic, ablest, anti-choice, xenophobic, anti-immigrant and an old man,” Sysak said. “I will say for the record that I’m a supporter of All Lives Matter; for Black, Latino, Asian, LGBTQ, people of color (and) the unborn. I’m against discrimination, hate crimes, anti-racist (sic) groups. And I’m against defunding the police department and blue lives do matter.”
The special board meeting was called after a Nov. 4 meeting attended virtually by more than 140 community members who called for Sysak to resign. At that meeting, the board approved a equity and anti-racism resolution.
More than 130 community members showed up virtually to Thursday’s board meeting, with just eight people attending the meeting in person at the Associated Students Auditorium on Cuesta College’s San Luis Obispo campus. The community college has three campuses in San Luis Obispo County.
Those attending the meeting included Rev. Stephen Vines, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s San Luis Obispo chapter, as well as several current and former Cuesta College students and teachers.
During the meeting, trustee Angela Mitchell said Sysak “made board meetings so painful.” After 20 years of serving on the board, she added, “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
She said that Sysak was misogynistic and demeaning to women several times, including Jill Stearns, Cuesta College’s current president and superintendent.
Sysak responded: “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
Cendejas, who is Mexican-American, said during Thursday’s board meeting that Sysak should not only resign, but also take diversity training.
“Your posts are disrespectful and discriminatory, and incite violence in our community,” Cendejas said. “In particular, (posts) that target me.”
Xavier Ortiz, a student at Cuesta College and the school’s Associated Students equity senator, said that Sysak’s Facebook posts have made him reconsider where he would want his kids to go to school.
“I am ashamed to call myself a Cuesta College student, and when considering where my three younger children will go, this event will always be at the top of my head,” Ortiz said during the meeting. “There is no way this board can move forward — even after a censure — so long as you are the sitting president and trustee. Your implicit bias is always going to called in question on any item that you bring forth.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 5:36 PM.
