On Sept. 19, the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU) and the California Faculty Association (CFA) distributed a petition demanding that Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval resign.
As soon as the petition surfaced to the public, news organizations throughout Fresno jumped at the opportunity to publish a breaking news story. With this came rushed coverage, misinformation and repetition of the same mistakes time and again. Few outlets followed up.
The Collegian waited to publish something on the matter until concrete facts had been established, and in doing so, we became the news organization with the most complete story.
Four things are clear: there was little to no communication happening between administrators, faculty and students; one name has been consistently repeated for the origin of the petition; Title IX plays a big role; and a large number of people are unhappy with the administration.
Associated Students, Inc.
Fresno State ASI President Faith Van Hoven countered the petition with a statement on her social media showing her support for President Jimenéz-Sandoval. Van Hoven also invited students to attend the next senate meeting to voice their opinions.
ASI’s executives released a statement titled “Statement on student representation and accountability” as a memorandum, calling for all involved parties to engage in civil discussion.
“Moving forward, any decisions that impact the future of our university must include student voices, and we demand that this level of respect and consideration be given,” the statement said.
Although we understand the frustration, ASI did not have to be notified by anyone about the petition being circulated. That’s out of their control and governing body.
Per the First Amendment, anyone can start a petition.
ASI leadership was also in the wrong by releasing a statement on behalf of the entire senate before a formal meeting was held and a vote taken.
CSUEU & CFA
The original endorsement of the petition from the CFA came from its need to stand in solidarity with the CSUEU, according to Andrew Jones, CFA president for the Fresno chapter, in a faculty-wide email.
He acknowledged in a Collegian interview that he made a mistake. The union then retracted its support for the petition.
“Immediately upon its release, campus constituents contacted us, expressing concern about the lack of consultation despite inclusion in the language of the petition,” Jones said.
Basically, the CSUEU leadership was responsible for the petition but did not consult with any of its members. Jones also gave the OK on behalf of the CFA without consulting with its executives or members.
Administration
The language in the petition indicated that there was a problem with the administration considering the university’s fiscal woes and Title IX concerns.
In late August, the Fresno Bee reported that Debbie Adishian-Astone, vice president of administration and chief financial officer, would be retiring at the end of this year, detailing everything that Fresno State has experienced during her time on campus.
The story not-so-nicely implied that she is the reason for Fresno State’s bungled financing of the Save Mart Center two decades ago, a situation that has left the university $42 million still in debt with balloon payments soon due, according to the Fresno Bee.
Then, Jiménez-Sandoval sent a faculty-wide email saying he was appalled at the way the Bee covered the impending departure of his colleague.
“While some in the media have wrongly made her a target of unfounded and biased statements, her legacy and steadfast loyalty to Fresno State will withstand the test of time, shining brightly forever more,” he said in the email.
That defense of Adishian-Astone angered CSUEU leadership, who called the president out for it in the petition.
The Collegian reached out to the university asking for a comment on behalf of Adishian-Astone, but they did not respond by deadline.
Terry Wilson
The name of Terry Wilson, vice president of finance in the CSUEU, came up multiple times in the course of The Collegian’s reporting. Multiple sources told us that Wilson wrote the petition. He was named as the petition’s author during an open meeting of the ASI senate.
The Collegian made multiple attempts to reach Wilson for comment. He did not respond.
The Collegian spoke with Belinda Munoz, a member of the CSUEU, and she shared her insight on the situation.
“The petition came down from the CSUEU headquarters, specifically Terry Wilson,” Munoz said.
Additionally, Munoz said that Wilson was using a “personal vendetta” against Adishian-Astone to target the president.
“Terry was part of the [Frank] Lamas situation, which, of course, Debbie was in place of overseeing HR at the time,” Munoz said. “And so although there have been multiple audits that clear Debbie from doing any wrongdoing, I think Wilson still continues to see her at fault, and so in President Jimenéz-Sandoval, praising her was just a trigger for him.”
The situation Munoz referred to was the Title IX lawsuit that was filed in 2022, by Wilson against Frank Lamas, then vice president of student affairs. This resulted in an investigation into former Fresno State President Joseph Castro’s shortcomings, according to USA Today. Adishian-Astone was involved in the situation as she oversees the Title IX department.
Our thoughts
Overall, we think this was a huge mess that could’ve been avoided altogether through clear communication.
We think it’s wrong that CSUEU released a statement on behalf of both unions without consulting its own members or members of the CFA.
We recognize the different perspectives of ASI, CSUEU, CFA and the president; however, no party handled the situation correctly.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect a comment from University Communications.
