Weekly Briefing: The Downfall of a 'Rock Star' Chancellor

He rose from first-generation college student to chancellor. Then came a sexual-harassment investigation. ADVERTISEMENT [Weekly Briefing Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. The downfall of a “rock star” chancellor. In September 2020, Joseph I. Castro (above) was named chancellor of the California State University system. He was praised for his rise from first-generation college student to the corridors of power at California’s top universities, where he was known for championing Hispanic students in higher education. That success story ended on February 17, when [Castro resigned]( after a 10-hour closed-door meeting with Cal State’s Board of Trustees. There he tried to explain why he had waited to meaningfully respond to numerous complaints of sexual harassment and bullying by Frank Lamas, vice president for student affairs when Castro was president of Cal State at Fresno. On February 3, USA Today reported that two investigations at Fresno had found Lamas responsible for sexual harassment and workplace bullying, but that Castro had agreed to let Lamas go with a $260,000 payout, retirement benefits, and a clean record, as long as Lamas never again worked on a Cal State campus. In a statement after the USA Today report was published, Castro apologized to Lamas’s victims but said there was little he could do without a formal Title IX complaint against Lamas. Castro quietly negotiated Lamas’s payout. He didn’t tell Cal State trustees about the incident when he was in the running to become chancellor. To some, this behavior suggests that Castro wanted to cover up an episode that didn’t show his best management abilities. Other critics saw Castro as unduly loyal to Lamas, turning a blind eye to the damage he had caused. Still, the chancellor’s prompt resignation has left some current and former colleagues conflicted. Castro was the first Mexican American and first native Californian to become Cal State’s chancellor. He spent more than two decades as a faculty member and administrator in the University of California system before he became chancellor. When he took the system’s reins, Castro made raising graduation rates a top priority. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California called him a “rock star” [during a virtual chat](. With Castro’s departure comes the end of the hope that he could shrink achievement gaps and raise graduate rates throughout the Cal State system, as he had done at Fresno. Many who worked with Castro across the state expressed a mix of sadness and relief. Some were also concerned about the future of the system. For Cristina Herrera, a former chair of the department of Chicano and Latin American studies on the Fresno campus, and now a professor of Chicano and Latino studies at Portland State University, it doesn’t matter that a prominent Latino leader like Castro stepped down. Herrera left Fresno after a female faculty member harassed and threatened her, she said. When she complained to the human-resources department, she was told the office could not help. She also emailed Castro about the campus’s inaction, she said, but he didn’t respond. “What does it matter if they’re Latinx if they continue to produce these systems that harm women or others who have been victimized?” Herrera said. Others see Castro’s departure as part of a larger problem. They say a system that allows leaders to ignore or cover up harassment is still in place. [Read]( Mangan’s full story here](. SPONSOR CONTENT | ROWAN UNIVERSITY [Built 'from scratch' Rowan University engineers fly drone swarms around the world]( ADVERTISEMENT Lagniappe. - Learn. Laurie Santos, the Yale University cognitive scientist who teaches the course “Psychology and the Good Life,” took a leave of absence for burnout. If the happiness professor is worn out, [where does that leave us]( - Read. 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