After a contentious campus-wide dispute last November, outraged college members demanded the resignation of an administrator after she used the unabbreviated version of the n-word— but Vice-President of Business Services Lyndsay Maas will return to her position Friday.
In a single sentence, Superintendent-President Anthony Beebe made the announcement via email Tuesday before quickly moving into a discussion about the anti-racism work he and other members of the college have committed to over the winter break.
“To begin with, as many of you know, the Vice President of Business Services, Lyndsay Maas, has been on leave,” his email read. “She has informed the college of her decision to return to the college, resuming duties Friday, January 25th.”
The campus groups who had demanded Maas’ resignation in November had also urged that there be “meaningful, ongoing, and in person anti-racism training” and “an independent council or entity which will have the responsibility of reviewing harassment claims and determining the appropriate responses” in their letter addressed to Beebe and the Board of Trustees.
Although Maas did not resign, it appeared the remainder of Beebe’s Tuesday email was meant to satisfy the other two requests.
“On Wednesday, January 9th, the Board of Trustees, College Planning Council members, and others joined a day-long retreat on anti-racism,” Beebe wrote. “The retreat was facilitated by Professor Rhonda Magee… Her knowledge, skill, and caring style showed us so many things about racism, helping us to look deeply within ourselves.
“It was a powerful way to start the new year and a step forward in our anti-racism work.”
In response to the demands to hire an outside entity to respond to harassment claims, Beebe said he has explored Bias Response Team approaches as well as UCSB’s Office of the Ombuds. He added that he will be inviting Ombud experts to City College to “help us going forward.”
Beebe said the Ombud experts will be at a future College Planning Council meeting this semester. There will also be a discussion about Crossroads Anti-Racism Trainings at the Academic Senate meeting this Wednesday.
