California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro late Thursday resigned amid allegations that he mishandled sexual harassment complaints against a university official while he was president of Fresno State.
Castro’s announcement followed a closed daylong meeting of CSU’s board of trustees. Calling the resignation decision “the most difficult of my professional life,” Castro said he was leaving his job as chancellor to preserve the goals of CSU.
“I have been honored to serve the California State University for more than eight years, including as its eighth chancellor, and the decision to resign is the most difficult of my professional life,” Castro said in a statement. “While I disagree with many aspects of recent media reports and the ensuing commentary, it has become clear to me that resigning at this time is necessary so that the CSU can maintain its focus squarely on its educational mission and the impactful work yet to be done.”
The resignation is effective immediately, and executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Steve Relyea will serve as acting chancellor.
“We appreciate Chancellor Castro’s cooperation with the Trustees and his decision to step down for the benefit of California State University system,” stated CSU board of trustees Chair Lillian Kimbell said, in a statement.
Before the board meeting, faculty and staff from Fresno State and Cal State University Long Beach spoke out against Castro and called for his resignation.
The statements came as the CSU board of trustees met behind closed doors to consider calls by legislators for an independent investigation into Castro’s handling of at least a dozen sexual harassment claims involving Fresno State Vice President of Student Affairs Frank Lamas.
Castro said on Feb. 4 that he welcomed an investigation.
The academic senate of Fresno State drafted a vote of no confidence in Castro, according to the Fresno Bee. It asks for Castro to be put on leave without pay while an independent investigation is conducted into his actions. It called for him to be fired if the investigation corroborates reporting from USA Today or additional evidence, such as whether Castro hid his actions from the search firm in his bid for chancellor.
Over 200 faculty and staff members at Cal State University Long Beach signed a petition calling on Castro to resign. The petition said there is no question of what happened, and there is no need for an investigation.
“We already know those facts. We already know what Castro did. We already know that he admitted that he reacted how he did, which was not to react and basically reward this individual,” Cal State Long Beach professor Emily Berquist Soule told the Los Angeles Times. “To us, that’s all the facts we need. We don’t have confidence that he would protect ourselves or our students from violence and sexual discrimination.”
The investigation calls came from Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, who chairs the Assembly Higher Education Committee, state Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, chair of the California Senate Education Committee, and the California Faculty Association — the union that represents more than 29,000 Cal State faculty members.
