The trustees and chancellor of California State College did what seems to be the best factor on Thursday by agreeing that Chancellor Joseph I. Castro ought to depart after just a bit greater than a 12 months on the job.
Castro’s resignation got here after disturbing stories surfaced that as president of Fresno State, he did not take cheap measures to take care of allegations of sexual harassment in opposition to his hand-picked director of pupil affairs, Frank Lamas. What’s extra, Castro did not act even after allegations of abusive conduct had been supported by a university-commissioned research in 2016.
This has raised respectable questions on Castro’s health because the chief of the nation’s largest four-year college system, and the fierce protests by college students and school would have made it tough for him to proceed on this function.
Precisely what occurred within the board assembly Thursday that led to Castro’s resignation has not been made public. However given the assertion by Chairwoman Lillian Kimbell afterward, it seems that the trustees may need been urging Castro to go away. What we hope they didn't do is what Castro did for Lamas: Negotiate a goodbye package deal with a golden handshake, a glowing suggestion and a clear personnel report.
In fact, nobody is accusing Castro of being an abuser, and it's a disgrace to see his a few years of service and accomplishment at California public schools come to an abrupt and ugly halt. However the complaints, first reported by USA Right now, in opposition to Lamas, who has denied wrongdoing, had been pretty latest, starting years after activists first known as out universities for negating or diminishing complaints of sexual misbehavior. Castro knew higher, or definitely ought to have.
The trustees had been by no means instructed in regards to the Lamas state of affairs whereas contemplating Castro for the job. They definitely ought to be taught from this example that a thorough vetting of candidates for CSU chancellor is an absolute requirement, together with speaking with school and employees at these candidates’ present jobs.
The board introduced Thursday that it might be launching an in depth take a look at the college system’s operations with regards to these sorts of issues. This has to incorporate the dealings of the board itself. It’s troubling to learn the first assertion by Kimbell after the information in regards to the mishandling of the allegations regarding Lamas got here to mild. She voiced help for Castro, supplied mealy-mouthed phrases about how advanced sexual misconduct instances are and recommended that Castro can be staying on and initiating a research of how the college can higher deal with complaints.
It was the unsuitable response, downplaying the seriousness of the state of affairs. Issues like this can't be swept underneath the rug — not simply these involving sexual harassment, however any critical misconduct. If educational establishments need to maintain on to their reputations as fearless discoverers of the reality, they should be keen to do the identical when these truths mirror uncomfortably on themselves.
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