District Academic Senate vote of no confidence:
The LACCD District Academic Senate passed a vote of no confidence in the LACCD Board of Trustees and Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez on May 9. The vote of no confidence came in response to what the District Academic Senate called a failure in “preventing public corruption and taking effective actions to combat sexual harassment and discrimination” by Rodriguez and the Board of Trustees.
This latest step was taken in the wake of calls for increased transparency after a former Los Angeles Southwest College professor won a $10 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the district in October 2022.
In a Los Angeles Times article from 2023, an LACCD spokesperson said the district “thoroughly investigates sexual harassment complaints.”
Newly elected ASO officers:
The 2024-25 Associated Student Organization (ASO) officers are Jasmine Minchez Lopez as President-Elect, Chloe Bassirat as Vice President-Elect, Alexa Romero as Club Council President-Elect and Malcolm Lovelace as Treasurer-Elect, according to a social media post by ASO.
Pierce professor reelected as AFT 1521 Faculty Guild president:
Pierce College professor of sociology James McKeever was recently reelected as AFT 1521 Faculty Guild president, and received 59.81 percent of the votes for the position.
In a recent interview, Pierce Interim President Ara Aguiar said it is an added value and resource to Pierce for one of the campus faculty to be in that position.
“I think it’s great for our college,” Aguiar said. “As a matter of fact, just today I was talking to somebody else [about] the value added to the institution when one of your members is engaged at the district level, or at the state level, because it enriches that person’s experience, and also in terms of the job that they do, working with others and other institutions. It brings that information back to our college.”
Permanent president for Pierce to be recommended:
Pierce College Interim President Ara Aguiar—who has been in the position for two and a half years—will be recommended to serve in the permanent position by LACCD Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez to the Board of Trustees at the June 12 meeting, according to an email from the chancellor.
“From starting as a student at LA Valley College and LA City College to now college president is a powerful and inspiring trajectory,” wrote the Chancellor. “President Aguiar has held every substantial academic role at LACCD from adjunct faculty, to professor and department chair, to dean and vice president of academic affairs.”
Copy by Delilah Brumer and Raquel G. Frohlich.
