Cuesta College trustee censured, ousted as board president after ‘offensive’ Facebook posts
The Cuesta College Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to censure trustee Peter Sysak and not re-elect him as board president after an ad hoc committee found he made “offensive, disrespectful, demeaning” social media posts that violated “the trustee role.”
Critics have called Sysak’s now-deleted posts racist, homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic and anti-immigrant.
Included in Wednesday’s censure was a request for Sysak to step down from the board, which represents a community college with three San Luis Obispo County campuses. And dozens of public commenters during the meeting called for the same.
However, in a statement, Sysak decried those who criticized his Facebook posts — and he insulted Cuesta College’s administration and his fellow board members.
“The ad hoc committee — appointed by the board of trustees to review my Facebook shares — in public session asked for my resignation, demonstrating their obvious bias,” he said during Wednesday’s board meeting. “They have acted as judge, prosecutor and jury and their conclusion is one you would expect from a third-world kangaroo court system. (College) administration and the board of trustees have, in my opinion, demonstrated political cowardice in not recognizing the First Amendment to our Constitution.”
The statement drew audible gasps from the audience, who mostly attended the meeting virtually via Zoom.
Notable attendees of the meeting included three members of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges Board of Directors, the student governing body that acts as the official voice of the state’s 2.1 million community college students. Present from the organization were President Stephen Kodur, Vice President Bejamin Blevins and Vice President of Legislative Affairs Andrew Nickens.
The three each made statements and called for Sysak’s resignation from the Cuesta College board.
“Trustee Sysak’s conduct constitutes a violation of his office so gross, that it is not just improper, but runs antithetical to the community he represents, the values of the district and, most importantly, the students,” Nickens said during the meeting.
Six community members showed up to speak in support for Sysak and assert that he was utilizing his First Amendment right to free speech in his Facebook posts.
Those commenters told Sysak to “stay strong” and not allow the censorship of “conservative thoughts.”
“Sysak, instead of stepping down, he’s had to take so much abuse,” Sandra Rios said during Wednesday’s meeting. “It’s just really disgusting. And he is a very brave man to do it.”
Sysak’s Facebook posts promote a rape culture, suggest he believes transgender people are mentally ill, that he believes people who have abortions don’t deserve to have an opinion on human rights. They also indicate that the trustee supports the Proud Boys — a far-right and male-only group that has engaged in political violence in the United States, according to USA Today.
His posts also show he thinks Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ success is due to only her being a Black woman, in addition to insulting people of the Muslim faith and disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement.
Community members who had been present at the last three board meetings showed up to again urge Sysak to vacate his seat.
“People are looking up to you as a leader and that is where you are failing,” said Xavier Ortiz, a Cuesta College student and Associated Students of Cuesta College equity senator. “You are not being an educational leader by showcasing this racism, hatred and bigotry.”
The censure resolution was approved by all board members but Sysak, who voted no.
The ad hoc committee — led by trustees Pat Mullen and Mary Strobridge — found Sysak’s social media posts to be “offensive, disrespectful, demeaning ridicule” and found they “promote negative stereotypes of people of color, Black Americans, Latinx, immigrants, as well as members of certain faiths, the LGBTQ community, women, and others.”
The censure “strongly requests“ Sysak resign.
“The board’s censure resolution is clear and came from the process outlined in the board’s code of ethics policy, and reaffirms the expectation that students, employees, and community members be treated with dignity and respect at all times,” Strobridge told The Tribune. “Trustee Sysak is encouraged to thoughtfully reflect on why his behavior is not acceptable for a Cuesta trustee or in line with the values of Cuesta College.”
Though Sysak did not resign, his fellow board members voted Wednesday to replace him as president of the board.
Strobridge was elected at Wednesday’s meeting as the new board president, with Mullen elected as the board’s new vice president.
Trustees Angela Mitchell and Barbara George both retired from the board in November after a combined 28 years of service. On Wednesday, the board administered the oath of office to two new trustees: Danna Stroud, the former executive director of Travel Paso, and Debra Stakes, the former president of Cuesta College Federation of Teachers.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
CORRECTION: Correction: This article has been updated to correctly refer to Peter Sysak’s change of position on the board. He was not re-elected as board president.
