With the release of a report investigating the actions taken by former Fresno State president Joseph Castro concerning Title IX complaints against former administrator Frank Lamas, some Fresno State students said they are upset by the lack of consequences Castro is facing.
Despite the investigation from attorney Mary Lee Wegner detailing a lack of a proper response from Castro to student concerns about Frank Lamas, Castro is set to become a tenured professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the spring 2023 semester.
“He definitely needs to take a large part of the blame,” said Maury Alberto, a fourth-year computer engineering student at Fresno State. “Ignoring valid complaints about something that serious should never be allowed to happen, and him not really getting punished is just sick.”
According to Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier, it is mandated that the university honor Castro’s retreat rights, which were established by the California State University system in September 2020.
Alberto said he remembers meeting Castro while moving into student housing as a freshman in 2019.
“It was my first day on campus and I remember being surprised that the school president was such a nice guy. Now after everything that happened, it’s just sad to know what he was doing at the time,” Alberto said.
After Castro’s alleged inadequate handling of complaints that included allegations of sexual harassment, some female students on campus feel he did not suffer enough reprecussions to set a proper standard.
“He needs to go,” said Yazmin Gonzalez, a second-year Liberal Studies major. “I don’t understand how there was a whole investigation and this man is still a professor.”
Gonzalez voiced her concerns about the precedent being set for those in power throughout the CSU system.
“It shouldn’t matter if he was a president or the head of all CSUs. I can’t imagine being a student in class and knowing that my professor willingly ignored sexual harassment complaints from people like me,” she said.
The situation has also left some students anxious about how Title IX complaints may be handled in the future, regardless of steps being taken by Fresno State’s current administration.
“I know it happened a few years ago and there’s a task force now and everything, but to me, I feel scared that if something ever happened to me, my report might not be taken seriously. I feel like our new administration is trying to fix things, but it’s going to take a lot,” said Samantha Rios, a third-year psychology student.
She feels that the lack of action taken by the CSU system is apparent when it is allowing Castro to teach at Cal Poly next semester.
“How is he not fired?” Rios asked. “He might not have sexually harassed anyone himself but allowing it to happen is just as bad. I just don’t like what this shows to girls that might be harassed and want to report it.”
