Summary of the March 4, 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting
Mar 4 2025Board Business
I am immensely proud that our Board of Trustees have chosen to engage in an open, earnest, and courageous conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at College of the Redwoods and the institution’s response to President Trump’s DEI executive orders and the recent Department of Education’s DEI guidance and FAQ document.
There are times when I take it for granted that most of my CR colleagues are familiar with the political and operational arguments related to DEI given the continuous media coverage. However, in retrospect, I realize that it would be helpful if I provided a condensed background on the DEI issue.
The diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) effort started as part of a larger backlash against racial justice efforts after the 2020 well documented killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. The pushback on DEI efforts in businesses, conservative state legislatures, and higher education gained strength following the Supreme Court’s ending of affirmative action in 2023.
Supporters of DEI claim that we need DEI initiatives to close historical employment and wage equity gaps. Furthermore, we need DEI to create organizational cultures/environments where everyone has the chance to succeed. Anti-DEI advocates claim that DEI is inherently racist and illegal in its implementation even if it claims to work on behalf of marginalized populations. According to the ACLU, in 2023, the far right introduced at least sixty-five bills to limit DEI in higher education in twenty-five states and the Congress.
It was not until President’s signing of anti-DEI executive orders, and his promise to eliminate DEI and “woke” initiatives from K-12 and higher education, that higher education institutions began to take anti-DEI seriously on a national level.
The issue of equity and racial justice is an extremely sensitive and complex issue. I remember people telling me that the election of President Obama ushered in a unified “post-racial America.” This was dreaming. As we have seen, since the conclusion of the Civil War, America has not been able to acknowledge or atone for the sin of slavery. Most Americans are reticent to talk about racism, social justice, and the colonization of tribal lands.
The DEI dialogue our nation is engaged in is a strong indicator that the pendulum is moving from the left to the right. Our challenge is to be courageous enough to genuinely listen to each other and find a way forward that will help up address our troubled past without marginalizing anyone or leaving any one population without power or agency. It will take heroic visionary leaders and fearless people willing to engage in tough conversations to find our way forward.
President of the Board, Dr. Mullery read a statement that set the stage for the DEI policy discussion. It is my honor to share her statement in its entirety below:
I want to provide some context, or possibly a framework, for this DEI discussion item.
It is important to remember that we are a nonpartisan board. We leave our political ideologies outside of the boardroom. Our responsibility is to advocate for student success through the promulgation of sound policies and to be fiscally responsible.
The conversation regarding the February 14 Dear Colleague letter distributed by the Department of Education (DOE) has been fraught with questions regarding its legality. Perhaps even more intense, many query the legitimacy of the DOE in dictating to schools, colleges, and universities how to operationalize their visions for ensuring that all are welcome to realize their rights to have equal access to an education.
In my opinion, the rub lies in the word “welcome.” For generations there were many who have not felt welcomed, indeed have been barred, from such access. Equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws were written and enforced, but such laws did not, nor could they, break down the structural barriers that could not be erased with the stroke of a pen. More affirmative action was needed and continues to be important to ensure that all are indeed welcomed to be part of the American Dream.
But we are now witnessing what I will refer to as a pendulum effect. When outreach initiatives flourished to give some a leg-up, others on the opposing swing of that pendulum, and who were not included in such initiatives, believed they were being let down. This effect will not surprise those of you who are students of history, or even physics. A swing to the left will inevitably push the pendulum to the right.
I believe that’s what we are responding to today. I am not expressing a political opinion, I’m stating a fact. President Trump won the popular vote in November. More than 50% of the voting public advocated for changing course on issues related to immigration, the economy, and culture. The acronym “DEI” became a rallying cry for many who have felt, rightly or wrongly, disenfranchised. I think it important that we acknowledge this fact.
What I also think important is to stress that words, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, are just that, words. It is actions that operationalize our values and culture. And CR has acted admirably to ensure that all are welcome, indeed encouraged, to pursue their dreams at our institution. Replacing these words does not change our values; only actions can do that.
Since Feb. 14 Trustee Mathews and I have reviewed our mission, philosophy and board goals in response to the Dear Colleague letter. Dr. Flamer did the same with his goals. As expected, DEI, and for us, DEIA, featured prominently. We looked at other ways to express our commitment and values. In the process I will add that we began to think that DEI had become almost akin to ‘buzz’ words. That is, as long as the term was incorporated into policies and procedures, we were good. We believe that over time their meaning may have become diluted. In that sense, we believe it was a healthy exercise to review and revise language to make it thoughtful and meaningful and to underscore our value to be a welcoming place for all, regardless of race, color, national origin, gender or sexual identity.
Other institutions have chosen to not conduct such a review, but rather wait until mixed messages regarding the legality and meaning of the Dear Colleague letter are clarified by the courts. In the meantime, last week DOE launched an “End DEI Portal” inviting students, parents, and others to submit reports of classroom activities that may somehow be aligned with targeted DEI principles. I will circle back to my original statement about the Board of Trustee’s overriding responsibility – to ensure student success through sound policies and fiscal responsibility. Failure to act could possibly threaten federal funding for our students and the institution at large. That is a risk that neither I nor Dr. Flamer is willing to take. But clearly this is a board decision.
As such, today you are presented with draft revisions to our mission, philosophy, board goals and president’s goals. While I initially was confused, and even somewhat distraught, at the prospect of such revision based on an unclear and legally dubious DOE mandate, I have come to terms with however we can define reality these days as it seems to change daily. I have accepted the challenge to strengthen our mission, philosophy and goals to reflect our values that we are and will continue to be an institution that proactively welcomes all who desire the opportunity to learn.
Colleen Mullery
College of the Redwoods
Board of Trustees President
March 4, 2025
The Board conducted a first read of BP 1200 District Mission, BP 1201 Philosophy, as well as their draft revised 2023-25 goals through the lens of the President Trump’s executive orders and the Department of Education’s February 14, 2025 Dear Colleague letter. To demonstrate alignment between the Board of Trustees and the President regarding DEI at CR, I submitted a draft of my revised goals in this meeting for their review.
Action/Discussion Items
The Trustees approved my recommendation to hire two fulltime tenured track faculty and one associate faculty. Starting August 1, 2025, Jaclyn Patmore will join our biology department as a new tenured track Assistant Professor of Biology and Angeles Torres Mendez will serve as our tenured track Spanish Assistant Professor. We also welcome Macy Thomas as a new Physical Education Associate Faculty member. I want to acknowledge the resignation of Nicole Bryant Lescher from the Director of Pathways position at the end of spring semester and Dr. Kintay Johnson as our Director of Student Equity, Multicultural, and Equity Center effective June 30, 2025. Nicole has elected to retreat to her English faculty position in fall 2025. I also want to acknowledge the retirements of Kirt Frischknecht (Network Administrator) effective July 31, 2025 and Dr. Deanna Herrera as a Professor of Psychology effective May 23, 2027.
I am happy to announce that the Board of the Trustees approved my recommendation to grant tenure to Ashley Knowlton and Ernest Shull. They also supported my recommendation to enter into a contract for the 2025 academic year 2025 with Matthew Hough, Jaclyn Patmore, Alissa Sarvinski, and Angeles Torres Mendez; continue the second year of a two-year contract in (2025) with Cintra Agee, Karyn-Lynn Fisette, Susan Gehr, Kendra Guimares, Trevor Hartman, Heather Payne, Kyle Shamp, and Patricia Harris; and enter into a contract for 2025 and 2026 with Paula Amis, Elyse Elizondo, Carolyn Perkins, Sean Roberston, Jason White, Noah Decker, Lupe Galvan, Yialelis McNitt, Ross Odell, Stacy Salinas, and Megan Uphoff.
Two resolutions were approved by the Board at this meeting. Resolution 826 joins the Academic Senate in “advocating and insisting that the agency for making decisions regarding curricular matters be returned to the faculty experts, and enrollment matters be returned to the individual students and faculty experts, who are most able to determine their needs to continue their educational journeys.” Resolution 827 authorizes us to issue an initial amount of $80,000,000 in Measure I bonds.
Informational and Administrative Reports
We noted in the Recognition agenda item that our athletic conference conferred athletic honors to nine of our men’s and women’s basketball student athletes. Mason Mottashed was named the Golden Valley Conference’s (GVC’s) Most Valuable Player, his selection to 1st Team All-State and earning a National Association of Basketball Coaches All-American nomination; Brandon Lucas, Alfonso Medina, and Ty Dahlin for receiving GVC’s 1st Team All-Conference honors; Marcos Rosales for being named an Honorable Mention for the All-Conference; and Isai Sow for being included on the GVC’s All-Defensive team. Three women’s basketball players received all-conference recognition too. Kyla Albee and Aniah Gaither were named to the All-Golden Valley Conference (GVC) First Team and Caidence was included on the all-conference first-year team. We also recognized Professor Valerie Elder for her successful completion of the California Licensed Professional Foresters exam, Men’s Basketball Head Coach Ryan Bisio for being named the GVC’s Coach of the Year, and Women’s first year Basketball Head Coach Bree Northern for leading the women’s basketball team to a successful season.
Julia Morrison shared that we want to use the initial $80 million bond issuance approved at this meeting to finalize the new residence halls design, submit the design to DSA for approval, and then start the dorm construction. We also want to use some of the initial bond issuance to start the planning and design process for the Del Norte Healthcare Training Center (DNHTC). Recommendations to award the DNHTC project management and design will be presented to the Board at the April Board meeting. Crystal Morse noted that five of our student government members will participate in the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) “March in March” and Advocacy Day in Sacramento. This is an opportunity for students to meet with state representatives and advocate for SSCCC’s 2025 legislative priorities. Marty Coelho’s report mentioned that we received $15,000 from the Building and Construction Trades Council of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties for the Yurok language program as part of our larger Language Institute initiative, fundraising for our rodeo team is continuing, and the Foundation Board approved a $5,000 innovation grant award to Montel Vanderhorck, Career Center Manager and Director of Employer Partnerships, to support a virtual internship for a CR student.