A report by the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees said former Fresno State president Joseph Castro failed to adequately handle Title IX complaints against former employee Frank Lamas. The report concludes that “more should have been done.”
“The president’s failure to more aggressively respond to reports of Lamas’ alleged misconduct also allowed such conduct to continue because there were no serious repercussions for it,” wrote Mary Lee Wegner, an attorney who handled the investigation for the CSU.
The report detailed nine specifc allegations against Lamas, who was the former vice president of student afairs and enrollment management, that took place from 2014 to 2019, including complaints that he stared at women’s breasts, made comments about women’s appearances, asked inappropriate questions and bullied employees.
Wegner concludes that Castro was aware of these actions by mid-2016, but demonstrated a “blind spot the President had about Lamas that negatively infuenced his response to Lamas’ behavior.”
The former university president continued to write positive performance reviews for Lamas and did not document his actions, according to Wegner’s report.
Rather than conduct disciplinary actions, the report said Castro instead “persuaded” Lamas to take harassment prevention training in 2016.
“The president’s support continued even in the aftermath of the Settlement to the extent he provided a very positive retirement announcement and recommendation letter for Lamas that were inappropriate,” Wegner wrote.
The CSU Board of Trustees released its report on Thursday, Sept. 29, in reaction to the documented mishandling of several sexual harassment complaints.
The CSU hired Wegner to conduct a private investigation on Lamas from March 25 through Aug. 10.
Her report determined whether the campus’s responses to the sexual harassment complaints complied with Title IX and CSU
policies and evaluated whether Lamas’ settlement was reasonable.
Wegner concluded that Fresno State’s responses were “reasonable but not appropriately documented” and that the $260,000 settlement Lamas received to leave the university also followed CSU policies at the time, which required the settlement to be recommended by Castro and approved by former CSU chancellor Timothy P. White.
Current Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval addressed the report in a campus-wide email.
“The fndings of this review and eforts by our campus community will help us to implement efcacious policies that are evidence-informed,” Jiménez-Sandoval wrote. “I am resolved to implement mechanisms that foster a sense of safety, accountability and transparency moving forward.”
The president and the university had no comment after the email and report were released.
Jiménez-Sandoval also provided Title IX updates in the email. A second survivoradvocate has been hired and will start work in January. An interim deputy Title IX coordinator was also hired, and the university is at the fnal stages of hiring a full-time discrimination, harassment and retaliation coordinator.
The Fresno State president also gave updates on the Title IX Task Force.
“The task force is diligently working toward making solid recommendations that will allow me to implement a robust and holistic plan
for further action that focuses on protection, prevention, intervention and healing related to Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation (DHR),” Jiménez-Sandoval wrote.
The Title IX Task Force has no enforcement power, but rather provides recommendations to the president regarding Title IX and DHR cases, according to Bernadette Muscat, the chair of the task force.
In an email interview with The Collegian, Muscat said the task force is broken up into four subcommittees: communication and web presence; prevention training and education; policy; and process.
Its recommendations will be given to Jiménez-Sandoval by December, though Muscat said the deadline can be moved to February if needed.
“The task force is working on recommendations to address unprofessional conduct including macro [and] microaggressions and bullying… as well as the timely response to each of these issues,” Muscat said.
The task force is still working on recommendations to handle those aggressions, how to get reports of them in a timely manner and the disciplinary actions and consequences for breaking them, she said.
There are still no specifcs on any of those recommendations.
Fresno State professor and task force member Kathryn Forbes said the report is “incomplete” and criticized Wegner’s investigation.
“This is why you don’t hire lawyers to investigate organizations… The report is shaped in a way that supports the position that the CSU wants,” Forbes said.
“The CSU wants to lay all the blame on Castro and not look to the other ofces that really played a large role in what happened.”
Since Wegner’s report focused on whether Castro’s actions followed CSU policies, Forbes encourages students to think about what’s not mentioned in the report, like whether or not the CSU policies are reasonable.
“What [Wegner] doesn’t do [in the investigation] is talk to two ofces. There is no question that Castro was getting direction from the Ofce of the General Counsel and the [CSU] chancellor’s ofce,” Forbes said.
The Ofce of General Counsel handled the settlement and investigation and consulted Fresno State with any Title IX or DHR complaint fled, according to previous Collegian articles.
Castro transitioned to CSU chancellor during the settlement, replacing White, until he resigned after the news of his allegations broke.
Forbes said she’s angry that there was no independent, third-party auditor to do the report because more needs to be investigated about the CSU’s policies, attorneys and chancellor.
“[Castro] was taking advice from other people [according to the report], but he alone is responsible? No, he’s not. I mean, the CSU is one huge bureaucracy… The General Counsel has a primary role and there’s no accountability for them, or very little accountability from them,” Forbes said.
The Cozen O’Connor law frm is working with Fresno State and the entire CSU system to make recommendations about policies and procedures, and the university is also undergoing a state audit by Assembly Member Jim Patterson.
CSU Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester said that an independent assessment of Title IX practices across all 23 universities and the Chancellor’s Ofce has been initiated, with Gina Maisto Smith and Leslie Gomez, chair and vice chair of the Institutional Response Group at Cozen O’Connor, to lead the Title IX systemwide assessment. O’Connor himself will assist as well.
Former Fresno State president and California State University (CSU) Chancellor Joseph Castro will be a tenured professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next year.
Castro was guaranteed a backup position within the CSU system because of his preexisting retreat rights, a contractual guarantee that allows former administrators who have given up tenure to “retreat” to a teaching position.
“Dr. Castro’s retreat rights to Cal Poly were established by the CSU in September of 2020 in accordance with the standard process of naming a new CSU chancellor. CSU policy mandates that Cal Poly honor Dr. Castro’s retreat rights,” said Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier.
By Aidan Garaygordobil ReporterWith 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 defnitely 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 frst 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 sufer 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 fx 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 fred?” 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.”
Castro will be instated as a CSU employee on Feb. 18. He will begin a full teaching assignment in spring 2023 quarter — which begins April 3 — and will teach leadership and public policy at Cal Poly’s College of Business in the management, human resources and information systems concentration, according to Lazier.
This comes after the release of a report on the private investigation conducted by the CSU Board of Trustees that said Castro failed to “aggressively respond” to alleged sexual misconduct by former employee Frank Lamas.
According to a news release from the CSU, Castro’s retreat rights at Cal Poly have been approved since October 2020.
In April, the Fresno State Academic Senate established a declaration of no confdence, stating that Castro “has violated the trust” of students, staf and faculty at the university.
“Therefore, [the] Academic Senate of California State University, Fresno afrms that Dr. Castro has demonstrated that he not only does not deserve to hold the rank of tenured professor but that he is unqualifed to teach and/or conduct research in leadership and public policy,” the declaration said.
Fresno State student Edward Thurber few to Yerevan, Armenia, in August to study abroad for the fall semester afterreceiving a scholarship to travel abroad as part of his Armenian Studies program.
From the moment he landed, he was intrigued by how diferent the country was from America.
“I basically had to learn a new way of understanding the world in Armenia,” Thurber said.
At the time, he thought that would be his biggest struggle. He did not know what would happen only a month later.
On Sept. 13, nearly 100 people died in an overnight battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan’s armed forces. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said 49 of those soldiers were Armenian, while Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said it lost 50.
Being Armenian himself, Thurber, who was a former ASI presidential candidate, had spent the frst month reconnecting with his culture and meeting people with connections to his family.
This is why he had a particularly “heavy heart” when soldiers reignited a decades-long confict with its neighboring country just several miles east of where he was living.
“It was hard to feel anything immediately because we didn’t know what was going on… Personally, it was a very surreal time because coming from America, I haven’t experienced this kind of warfare,” Thurber said.
The cause of the confict between the nations is reported to be a continuation of a decades-long fght in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is a conficted region controlled by Azerbaijan.
However, Fresno State professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, department chair of the Armenian Studies program, said September’s bloodbath has “greater implications” than just territory.
“The country of Azerbaijan is actually now attacking the country of Armenia, their territory, sovereign territory, and Armenians have been attacked with missiles and rockets… So it’s a very dangerous period for Armenia,” Der Mugrdechian said.
Thurber agreed with Der Mugrdechian, saying this is one of the frst times Azerbaijan intentionally attacked Armenia’s borders.
Fresno State student Sara Beberian, who is also president of the Armenian Student Organization, said she felt sorrow when the news broke about September’s confict.
“There’s defnitely a feeling of helplessness because you donate and do so much, but I can’t really do anything personally,” Beberian said.
She grew up attending the Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School in Clovis and went to St. Paul Armenian Church. She said she found her identity in her culture, learning the language and history. For Beberian, advocating for Armenian aid is very important.
“It’s also hard when you hear about one Armenian dying. It’s like we’re already such a small [community],” Beberian said.
The nation’s population is around 2.7 million people, around half the population of the Central Valley.
After several more days of fghting, from Sept. 12-14, more than 170 soldiers were killed on both sides.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefre on Sept. 15. By Sept. 19, more than 200 soldiers had been pronounced dead, according to AP News.
Since the 1980s, the two countries have been at war multiple times. Both were under control of the Soviet Union and later gained their independence. However, it left the NagornoKarabakh region a place both sides would fght over, leaving behind thousands of casualties.
The latest three-day confict was one of the deadliest since the 44 Day War from September to November 2020, which left 94 Azerbaijani civilians dead, 400 Azerbaijani citizens wounded and at least 2,425 Armenian servicemen killed, according to AP News.
Der Mugrdechian said this is a “proxy war” with many other nations like the U.S. and Iran with involved interests in the NagornoKarabakh region. Turkey has shown its support for Azerbaijan, and Russia has peacekeeping soldiers in the region as well.
Both countries are throwing blame at one another, with Azerbaijan accusing Armenia of attacking frst. Der Mugrdechian believes this is part of a disinformation campaign of Azerbaijan against Armenia. He said how it started doesn’t matter at this point because Azerbaijan escalated it.
“Azerbaijan has continued to threaten the Republic of Armenia… So it’s not a question of provocation. The provocation comes from Azerbaijan, which is trying to ramp up
hostilities, and then they’re the ones that have attacked, so I really do put the blame on them,” Der Mugrdechian said.
Thurber and Beberian both agree with Der Mugrdechian, saying Azerbaijan is wrong and it makes no sense for the Armenians to had struck frst.
“With Azerbaijan having Turkey’s support, it would be completely nonsensical for Armenia to launch an assault,” Thurber said.
He said Azerbaijan and Turkey have more of a reason to attack. Armenia borders those two nations, so having that territory connects them and gain power with things like oil, Thurber said.
Der Mugrdechian and Beberian agreed.
Beberian has an additional history with Turkey. Her great-grandmother survived the Armenian Genocide and fed the region that is now Turkey.
“If I wanted to go back to my homeland, which is now in Turkey, that’s really hard, and then the worst part of it for Armenians is that there was never recognition for this genocide,” she said.
Azerbaijan denies the existence of the genocide and Turkey is known to support the decision, according to Reuters.
Azerbaijan proponents also argued the break from the Soviet Union and the war between
Armenia forced over 400,000 Azeri refugees to fee their homes within Armenia to Azerbaijan due to persecution, according to the European Politics and Policy blog.
Der Mugrdechian encourages the Fresno State community to donate to and learn more about Armenian organizations like 2022 The Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America and The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
“I hope that there is U.S. military aid. It’s just so sad for me because I just know none of this is going to happen, but I hope it does. Just for the future of Armenia and so that my kids have a homeland to go to,” she said.
Thurber said that America needs to cut all ties with Azerbaijan because there is no real cease-fre and a battle can break out any moment.
Like Beberian, his family also fed Turkey during the Armenian Genocide, so for him, it feels like his people are being forced out of their homes again, he said.
“I would characterize this as Turkish imperialism,” he said.
“It’s a huge weight on me to think that parts of modern Armenia are potentially going to be occupied land… So it’s really painful to see history living itself out.”
April 24 is a day of remembrance for the Armenian community.
It was the frst day of the Armenian Genocide, a massacre that occurred in the former Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1927.
Fresno State has commemorated the anniversary of this day throughout the years to honor those who were killed.
Now, that day will have statewide recognition as Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to bring more awareness to the history of the genocide.
In April, Newsom proclaimed “A Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide” in the state of California.
“As we remember the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide, we also honor the strength and resilience of the Armenian people,” he wrote in the proclamation.
Newsom continued to bring awareness to Armenian history, expanding it to a legislative order.
On Sept. 29, he signed Assembly Bill 1801 to declare April 24 as Genocide Remembrance Day, also making it a state holiday.
It permits public schools and community colleges to close for the holiday, as well as
for state employees to utilize eight hours of vacation, annual leave or compensation time.
“Since this bill was just signed last Thursday, we are awaiting further guidance from the California State University chancellor’s ofce,” said Lauren Nickerson, associate vice president for University Communications. “We appreciate Governor Newsom’s support of this bill knowing the importance of April 24th and having an ofcial Genocide Remembrance Day for our Armenian community.”
Genocide Remembrance Day allows residents of California to remember historical atrocities, like the Armenian Genocide, and
the importance of human rights, according to Newsom.
“Establishing a state holiday that commemorates genocides – both past and present – provides space for groups to heal and sends a powerful signal about our California values,” he wrote when signing the bill.
Fresno State students can learn more about Armenian history through the university’s Armenian Studies Program, where students can enroll in its courses or attend its events. throughout the year.
Students can also join the Armenian Students Organization and attend its event posted on its social media.
Local dog owner Yvette Morales is barely on Facebook, but on Thursday she logged into the app and the frst post she saw was about a dog wash and trimming event.
Morales felt uncomfortable with clipping the nails of her recently gifted dog, Mochi. However, the 10-month-old, small Pomeranian was one of many pets that attended the event because Morales couldn’t pass on this opportunity.
“[I thought], we’ll see other dogs and she’ll get her toenails clipped,” Morales said.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, the Pre-Vet Club hosted the dog grooming event outside the Dairy Unit at Fresno State. Organizers wanted the event to help the community with low-cost dog services while providing club members with hands-on experience, according to club president Angelina Colunga.
To prepare for the dog wash, Colunga said volunteers, who were mostly freshmen and Pre-Vet club members, received training on how to properly care for a dog by practicing the services provided at Saturday’s event on her friend’s dog.
Rosemary Cortes, the club’s public relations ofcer, said the event helped sharpen her decision-making skills.
“If a dog is scared of the water or they’re not close to their owner and they get that separation anxiety, we can make those quick decisions [on how to respond],” Cortes said.
Dog owners brought their four-legged friends to the check-in tent and were given a color-coded ticket depending on their desired services: dog washing for $10, nail trimming for $5 and both services for $15.
Dog owners and their pets waited in two separate lines depending on their desired services before being escorted to the dog wash area by a volunteer. Food and refreshments, including hot dogs, hamburgers, sodas and water, were available for guests to purchase while waiting in a shaded grass area.
“It’s been pretty easy. They brought water and there is shade and the wait is not too long,” Morales said.
Volunteers guided the dogs to a canopy tent where a team of two or three others assembled the wash.
While volunteers soaked the dogs in water, the others scrubbed their paws and fur with soap.
Afterward, the dogs were sent to a folding table to be dried with a towel.
Dogs getting their nails clipped were gently
gripped around the waist by one volunteer while another held its paws and cut its nails.
Organizations such as the Central California Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) were also in attendance at the event to provide guests with information about services such as dog training and low-cost vaccines for Fresno County animal owners.
“We just want to reach out to the community and get them to know us and our services,” said Samantha Perez, Fresno State alumna and humane educator at the SPCA.
Most of the earnings from the event will go toward funding the club’s biggest event of the year, Dinner with Doctors, according to Colunga.
“We have Dinner with Doctors toward the end of the year, [where] we recruit a lot of diferent veterinarians with similar practices and then we usually have them gather with us,” Colunga said.
Prior to the event, Cortes said she was kept busy responding to guests via social media, but was still shocked at the turnout at Saturday’s event.
“I didn’t think it was going to be that many people, but we’re really grateful that everyone was able to come out and support the Pre-Vet Club here at Fresno State,” Cortes said.
Students interested in the Pre-Vet Club or future events can visit its social media account on Instagram with the handle @FresnoState_ PreVetClub.
Fresno State graduate artists Carolyn Zutler and Leila Rofan are using the art in “Interwoven,” their current Phebe Conley Art Gallery graduate show, to raise awareness regarding the exploitation and sufering of women.
The exhibit, which opened Sept. 29 with a reception, is an opportunity for Zutler to refect on her own experience with sexual trauma.
“I didn’t really come to terms with my own sexual abuse until I started these paintings,” she said. “I didn’t think it was big enough or bad enough. [I thought] that it wasn’t something that I should complain about.”
Zutler’s pieces include fve oil paintings centered on the sexual abuse that fve women experienced when they were children, accompanied by panels describing the pieces and the motivations behind them.
One piece, “Shattered and Whole,” is a fgurative piece that uses strong red, green and blue brushstrokes to accentuate a white shattered pitcher. A person’s arm rests on a table, casting shadows over it and muting its redness into a black. Zutler uses thin white brushstrokes to shape the cracks of the pitcher and its translucent shadow.
For Zutler, these paintings are an opportunity for women who’ve experienced
similar abuse to be more open about their experiences.
“I think when we can own it, and not feel ashamed of it because it’s not our fault, it’s somebody else’s fault, then we can talk about it,” Zutler said. “I think the more we talk about it, the less it will happen.”
Zutler’s work is not confned to oil on canvas. Two of her pieces, “I’ll Be Good” and “Abundance,” are abstract collages featuring scenes of nature on corrugated metal. The pieces are displayed next to each other, and visitors are able to pick up magnetized bugs, leaves and birds from both of the pieces and stick them anywhere on the metal.
“Fragmented Memory” is a mixed-media installation of Zutler’s that uses cyanotypes, fabric, steel, woodcut print and intaglio print to portray insects and birds in nature using very little color. It focuses on Zutler’s own personal experience with sexual abuse, which she describes as “fragmented, fashes of images.”
Visitors can also interact with this piece, which gives them the ability to pull a curtain to reveal or hide certain parts of it.
Rofan’s work also focuses on the abuse of women, centering on the oppression women in Iran are currently facing. She uses diferent media such as gravel, rugs and acrylics.
“I [mainly] choose fragile mediums, like mulberry paper, and I use these clay boards that are very fragile to work with [too],” Rofan said.
“They are very delicate and the reason behind it is that, culturally, [women] run into those delicate and vulnerable situations.”
One of Rofan’s pieces, “Heritage,” spans aross an entire room. 112 feet long and 6 inches in width, the piece lines a room that is already full of Rofan’s other pieces, displaying symbols that each signify a diferent idea or creature.
Her centerpiece in the exhibition, “Your Name Is Encrypted,” is a portrait of Mahsa Amini, whose death in the custody of morality police on an accusation of violating the law on headscarves in Iran on Sept. 16 sparked protests.
Amini was arrested for not wearing a hijab in accordance with government standards. Police claim that she sufered a heart attack while in custody, leading her to fall into a coma and die after two days.
However, eyewitnesses who were near Amini during her arrest said she was beaten, and leaked medical documents have led many to believe her cause of death to be a brain hemorrhage and a stroke.
Rofan’s piece uses light brushstrokes to depict Amini’s face while also utilizing bold brushstrokes to create a veil around her hair and neck with leaves and plants underneath.
Positioned among six other pieces that each feature a diferent portrait of a child, Rofan hopes visitors will scan a QR code taking them to a Time magazine article about the protests that erupted after her death.
“As you scan the QR codes, you can see what’s happening [in Iran], raising awareness about what’s happening right now in another country,” Rofan said.
“Women are fghting in my country. They’re fghting for their freedom. They’re fghting for their basic rights.”
“Interwoven” will remain on display at the Phebe Conley Art Gallery through Oct. 21 for students, staf and community members who wish to see Zutler and Rofan’s work in-person. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The next planned exhibition will be another graduate art show, which will begin on Oct. 27 with a reception held on the same day at 5 p.m.
“4,000 Miles” kicked of the 2022-23 mainstage season at Fresno State’s University Theatre on Friday, Sept. 30, with a showcase of talent from both current students and alumni.
Written by Amy Herzog, “4,000 Miles” focuses on the relationship between 21-yearold Leo Joseph-Connell, who has just experienced a tragic loss, and his spirited grandmother, Vera Joseph, who is 70 years his senior.
The play opens with Leo arriving without advance notice on his grandmother’s Greenwich Village, New York City, doorstep at 3 a.m. after biking 4,000 miles from Seattle.
The next hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission, featured Fresno State senior Tyler Murphy as Leo and alumna Kelsey Deroian as Vera onstage for nearly every scene.
With Leo having completed his physical journey of 4,000 miles, Murphy focuses on conveying his emotional journey during the following days as Leo and Vera become unlikely temporary roommates. His consequent performance, described as his “tour-deforce” by director Kathleen McKinley, had him laughing, crying, yelling and dumbstruck within an hour alone.
Leo is plagued with a loss that remains largely ambiguous in early scenes, and when it is later revealed it’s a shocking and senseless enough tragedy to merit extreme reactions, although, this loss remains noticeably less surprising than the family drama he left behind in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Murphy, who is 21 years old like Leo, doesn’t have to do much to be a convincing young man. It’s Deroian who was tasked with convincing the audience she is a woman much older than her actual age.
Deroian did an excellent job of embodying the physical mannerisms of Vera, moving with tottering steps and believably struggling with the consequences of age.
The play frequently featured Deroian as Vera struggling to fnd her words, which marks a particular frustration for a woman who has long been an intellectual and up until recently gathered with a group of friends each month for political discussions.
Fresno State students will relate to the sometimes sympathetic, sometimes uncomfortably harsh dynamic between Leo and Vera as her grandson sometimes shows
pity for her struggles and other times lashes out in annoyance. The most enjoyable scenes were when both characters are able to fnd a middle ground and bond.
One of the top comedic moments in the play was when Leo is able to convince his grandmother to smoke weed with him, following with them discussing their sex lives.
Molly Heng’s brief portrayal of Leo’s date Amanda was another high point in the play, with Heng bringing an immediate bubbling energy to the set as an aspiring “international art star” still trying to choose her medium.
While Heng’s character could have easily remained a stereotypical performance, her critique of Vera’s communist texts and philosophy serves to elevate her character and prompts Leo to reach his emotional breakthrough in the next scene.
While the performances from Murphy and Deorian themselves were the greatest strength of the play, McKinley’s decades of experience in directing was evident in the fow of the production.
Transitions between scenes were marked with snippets of well-known folk songs, with many predominantly from Bob Dylan and Janis Ian.
Dylan’s 70s hit “Shelter from the Storm” opens the production while “Forever Young” closes it out, with lyrics often mirroring the struggles of Leo and Vera.
The set itself transfers the audience from the Dennis and Cheryl Woods Theatre to an elderly woman’s New York apartment, complete with salmon colored walls and family photos lining the bookcases.
Overall, “4,000 Miles” marks a promising start to the 2022-23 mainstage season, which will take a sharp turn from the genre of family drama into horror later this month with “Misery,” written by William Goldman and based on the novel by Stephen King.
The novel was previously adapted into the well-known 1990 flm of the same name that starred Kathy Bates and became the only flm based on a Stephen King novel to win an Academy Award.
However, the talent displayed in the production of “4,000 Miles,” as well as the positive reception from the audience upon its completion, set an encouraging standard leading up to Fresno State’s take on “Misery.”
• Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets will cost $10 for students, $15 for faculty and staff and $17 for general admission.
In 2019, a doodle of a fying character in a Fresno State classroom marked the beginning of Jacob Rivera’s work as a music producer under the name Pilotkid.
Two years after Rivera’s graduation in 2020, he’s now stationed in Los Angeles producing songs for artists he once listened to in his free time, including the rapper Russ, who released the single “Yes Sir,” produced by Rivera last June.
When promoting the single, Russ called Rivera “a young legend” on his Instagram.
But Rivera’s biggest goal isn’t another star-studded collaboration or an award – it’s to pave the way for kids from the Valley to pursue music the way he has.
“I hope to be the door to open up to other kids who didn’t know that this was a possibility,” he said.
Rivera’s passion for music began at a young age. By the time he was in middle school he’d developed an interest in the drums and guitar, taking lessons for basic chords and “YouTubeing” the rest.
He was a self-described band geek through high school, which landed him a scholarship to Fresno State.
During high school he played trombone in a Dixieland Jazz band, the Reedley River Rats, under Sam Gipson’s mentorship. Rivera performed with the group for over two years, during which time Gipson said he could already tell Rivera was driven.
“He was defnitely very involved in as much of the music as he could be at the school that we were ofering. He was just a part of everything he could be,” Gipson said.
Rivera’s passion was already all-consuming before he stumbled on a YouTube video of J. Cole explaining the process behind production of his hit song “Power Trip.” Rivera bought everything he saw J. Cole use in the video and set to work becoming a music producer himself.
“All throughout my entire college career was me making music as much as possible, every waking moment,” Rivera said.
By the start of his ffth year at Fresno State as a psychology major, he was producing albums for himself and found that he had extra beats with nobody to give them to. He made a YouTube channel, and within a few
months he was getting work.
When he graduated during the pandemic, he was making enough money producing music to quit his job and move to LA.
As a music producer, Rivera said his main task is to “bring an idea to life.” But his second task puts his psychology degree to work.
“It’s kind of my job to understand what [musicians are] trying to say and get inside of their head. As soon as I meet them, I ask questions and try to understand where they’re coming from and put that out in the form of music,” he said.
Working that closely with musicians he’s admired and worked with has been one of Rivera’s favorite parts of his work.
He noted the excitement of hearing artists he’d previously listened to over his own beats, as well as telling well-known musicians like Russ about his college town of Fresno, which he called “surreal.”
“I know this guy personally now. Like, this man knows about Fresno and where I’m from,” Rivera said.
Most importantly to Rivera, it was in LA that he found the community he’d been searching for.
“Having had no one to really play my music for back in the Valley, I found myself in this little bubble by myself. When I came out to [Los Angeles] it was like I got tossed into a giant lake,” he said.
Knowing what it was like to feel alone in his pursuit of music production in the Valley, Rivera hopes to open up the possibilities for other kids who have similar aspirations.
“I think I want to be that for anybody else who doesn’t know that this is possible. Because I didn’t know this was possible, I had to fgure it out,” he said.
He’s fnding early success in that goal, too. Already he said that a friend’s little brother, who previously knew nothing about music production, now hopes to be a music producer himself one day.
Rivera’s music can be listened to on Youtube, Beatstore, Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud.
Former Fresno State president Joseph Castro resigned as CSU chancellor, but is poised to teach classes such as Leadership and Policy at Cal Poly in a tenured position in spring 2023.
Former employee Frank Lamas left Fresno State with a $260,000 settlement recommended by Castro and approved by former CSU chancellor Timothy P. White and now serves as founder and president of Lamas Education Advisory Services (LEADS).
How is the man accused of sexually harassing multiple students and employees now providing education advisory services? How is the man whose “blind spot” let it happen getting rewarded with a tenured position at Cal Poly?
Because the truth is that this behavior was not enabled simply by Lamas’ dominance or Castro’s “blind spot” and negligence. The university is not run by simply two people.
The problem is that the years of sexual harassment sufered by female students and staf, as well as the general tolerance of abuse recalled by staf under Lamas, are being ignored in the discussion that’s followed.
It’s a disservice to the victims of Lamas’ misconduct to allow both men to continue their lives with the wrist slap of a negative reputation trailing behind them on their way to further success.
But the problem is bigger than simply Castro and Lamas.
Fresno State has already failed and even punished individuals who came forward about Lamas’ misconduct time and time again, and the framing of the issue as something just Castro and Lamas did wrong – and nobody else – is a continued failure. Last Thursday,
Mary Lee Wegner, an attorney who handled the investigation for the CSU, released her report that stated that individuals serving in the positions of associate vice president of human resources (AVP-HR), Title IX coordinator and vice president of fnance and administration were all aware of the numerous allegations of misconduct against Lamas and did nothing.
While the individuals in those positions changed during Lamas’ employment, the implication that multiple other people were aware suggests there is a culture of tolerance of Lamas’ behavior if it was known for years and nothing was done about it to protect victims.
Individuals serving in those positions continued to enable Lamas’ behavior despite being fully aware of the allegations, as evidenced by one particular failure of the Title IX system on campus.
In what is titled “Report 2” in the report, incidents are described in which Lamas asked an identifed employee about his sexual orientation, made comments about
women’s appearances and retaliated against the employee for raising such concerns.
Wegner’s report revealed that while both the AVP-HR and Title IX coordinator at the time spoke to the employee and Lamas about the alleged behavior, Lamas later attempted to put a performance improvement plan in the employee’s fle.
The AVP-HR and Title IX coordinator prevented this and cautioned him against retaliation, but they ended up encouraging the complainant to interview for a diferent job on campus while allowing Lamas to keep a position he’d been abusing.
The university continuously let the people who came forward down, failing to follow up on a climate survey in June 2016 that revealed more widespread dissatisfaction with Lamas’ behavior, for instance, and failing to take action against Lamas despite the growing accusations over a period of fve years.
The report concluded that the lack of faith in the administration deterred further reports being made against Lamas because employees simply didn’t trust the system.
Still, the report focused primarily on the efects of Castro’s and Lamas’ behavior and choices, rather than the rest of the administration that was present at the time. Even White, who approved Lamas’ controversial settlement, has largely escaped criticism despite being Castro’s superior at the time.
Other students, some not even detailed in Wegner’s report, have been hurt by the culture in Fresno State that previously enabled behavior like Lamas’.
In February 2022, Xitllali Loya organized a protest of nearly 100 individuals who demanded Castro’s resignation following the news breaking about Lamas, with Loya citing her own Title IX case from 2019, which she told The Collegian she felt was “thrown under the rug.”
When The Collegian covered Loya’s protest, students were still saying that they felt that their Title IX cases were not being properly addressed.
Students and staf alone have no reason to redevelop trust in Fresno State, even after current President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval’s encouraging email outlining the next steps for Title IX.
The university has to show a commitment to transparency and accountability before expecting students and staf to have faith in the administration again.
Fresno State needs to stop hiding behind Castro’s and Lamas’ behavior and accept that the problem runs much, much deeper than two bad apples.
That’s the beginning of reestablishing an open, honest discussion with the campus community.
And until it does that, students and staf will continue to be vulnerable to harassment, retaliation and abuse.
The Collegian is a student-run publication that serves the Fresno State community. Views expressed in The Collegian do not necessarily refect the views of the staff or university
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The Fresno State football team lost its game at the University of Connecticut (UCo nn) on Saturday, Oct. 1, by a score of 19-14.
Expectations for this game had seemed to clearly favor the ‘Dogs. Last season, they won 10 games and blew out the Huskies 45-0. But UConn shocked the Red Wave with its win over Fresno State.
After a gut-wrenching loss to Oregon State and the blowout loss on the road at USC, Sat urday’s game was the ‘Dogs’ chance to even out their record.
The ‘Dogs only mustered 187 total yards, while UConn went for 313. Of those 183 were rushing yards. The back-breaking play was when UConn sophomore running back Devontae Houston rushed for a 17-yard touch down to give UConn that 19-14 lead with 2:20 left in the game.
Fresno State’s usual starting quarterback, Jake Haener, sat out due to an injury, which allowed backup quarterback Logan Fife to step in.
Fife threw a total of 157 yards during the game, with a career-high long 32-yard pass to Jalen Moreno-Cropper.
When the Bulldogs found themselves twice in the Huskies’ red zone and threatening to score, Fife had an unforced fumble and then an interception that was defected twice before the Huskies took it away.
Fresno State head coach Jef Tedford not ed that nothing was going right, not only with frst-time starting quarterback Fife, but the team as a whole.
“Turnovers, couldn’t protect the passer, penalties that hurt us to give them plays… not disciplined enough. Not good,” Tedford said. “We gave up some third-and-mediums that we could have been of the feld, a couple of face-mask penalties that gave them a play, a personal foul that was a lack of discipline.”
Tedford told Barkboard that unfortunate things happened during the ofensive team’s breakdowns.
He noted that on Fife’s frst drive the ball slipped out of his hand, and there were inter ceptions that followed, with both in the red zone.
“Protections. We have to look and see what our protection problems were. [It] really didn’t seem like [Fife] was all that comfortable in the packet,” Tedford told Barkboard.
Tedford praised the Huskies’ performance from start to fnish. He said the strength of the team was in the Huskies’ defensive front, its linebackers and ofensive line.
Fresno State has completed its non confer ence play, sitting on a 1-3 record for the frst time since 2016. The road doesn’t get much easier as the ‘Dogs head to face a 3-2 Boise State team at Albertson’s Stadium on Satur day, Oct. 8.
With senior starters Haener and Evan Wil liams still injured on a week-to-week basis, it is unknown if they will compete in Fresno State’s Mountain West opener against Boise State.
A win could be uplifting for the Bulldogs as they try to right the ship after an underwhelm ing start.
A loss could hurt the Bulldogs for a few reasons. They would drop to 1-4, and their chances of reaching the Mountain West cham pionship might be out of reach.
Jordan Mims runs the ball down the field in the game against UConn on Oct. 1 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Courtesy of Fresno State Athletics
The Red Wave and fans of Arron Mosby will have to wait for his NFL debut.
The former Fresno State linebacker was called up to the Carolina Panthers’ 53-man roster last week, but when the team set its roster ahead of its matchup with the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 15, Mosby was among the inactive players.
On Sept. 26, the Panthers cut Mosby from the active roster, placing him back on the practice squad.
Mosby signed with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent back in May. He was called up from the team’s practice squad for his skills on special teams while also adding depth to the linebacker position for Carolina.
During the preseason, Mosby totaled nine tackles with one pass defection.
The Sanger native spent fve seasons (20172021) at Fresno State, including a standout season as a senior in 2021.
In that year, Mosby earned All-Mountain West Conference (MWC) honorable mention accolades after tying the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)-lead with six forced fumbles.
He also led the Bulldogs with 15.5 tackles for loss in addition to having six sacks. In 2019, Mosby registered a career high 78 tackles.
Mosby wore the Panthers’ jersey for three games this season, his only action coming in 16 snaps on special teams in Week 2 against the New York Giants.
With Mosby of the roster, the Panthers now have an open spot to fll.
The Fresno State women’s soccer team celebrated more than just its frst win Sunday afternoon. The team also celebrated Brian Zwaschka’s 100th career win at Fresno State.
Zwaschka entered his 14th season as head coach for the Bulldogs this year, making him the longest tenured coach in program history. He has coached over 230 games and now holds the most wins at 100 games.
“I thought it was going to come probably earlier than this, but the fact that it came at this moment and in a conference game is really overwhelming. It’s really about refecting on the whole program,” Zwaschka said.
He took to Twitter after Fresno State Soccer tweeted congratulating him on his new career high win.
“It takes a village. This is about the whole Fresno State community, staf, administration, coaches, doctors, the whole Central Valley. I congratulate all of them! Dedicated to my parents,” Zwaschka said.
The Iowa native started his journey at Fresno State on April 6, 2009, after being an assistant coach at UC Berkeley.
He has led the Bulldogs in three Western Athletic Conference (WAC) tournament
appearances, including one championship in 2010, one WAC regular season runner-up fnish, one WAC tournament runner-up fnish, two MW regular season runner-up fnishes, seven MW tournament appearances and one NCAA tournament appearance.
“The fact that this was the frst win certainly made it specifcally about this team, which is great, and they deserve it, but I think back all the way to 2009 when I got my actual frst one here and all those programs and all
those players in between, have contributed to it,” Zwaschka said.
Zwaschka has helped develop several known faces for the international stage, including Iceland National Team veteran Katrín Ómarsdóttir and U.S. Women’s National Team forward Alex Morgan. Morgan went on to score the winning goal in the FIFA U20 World Cup tournament in 2008 in Chile, and received Silver Ball and the Bronze Show awards.
Before he was head coach for the Bulldogs, Zwaschka had developed a respectable coaching and playing history. He played for Grand View University from 1990-92, earning NAIA All-America and District 15 Player of the Year honors.
He played professionally for six years after he graduated from Grand View on teams such as USL’s Des Moines Menace and the Connecticut Wolves, formerly of the A-League level. He also gained four years of playing abroad in Scotland and England and two seasons in France.
He started his coaching career at a soccer club, coaching with the Waukee Soccer Club and the Iowa United Soccer Club. He then moved up in his career as an assistant coach the following years for high schools and universities.
He became an assistant coach for Dowling High School in Des Moines, Iowa before returning to his alma mater to coach. He then ventured to Texas Tech and Cal, coaching two NCAA Division I teams. In his 14th season now with the Bulldogs, Zwaschka is hopeful for the rest of the team’s conference season.
“I feel like all the things that have not worked out for us this season are just adding to that bank of resilience and I was so happy for this group to fnally see it come to fruition,” Zwaschka said.
The Fresno State’s women’s soccer team picked up its frst victory of the season with a 1-0 win over its Mountain West opponent Nevada.
The match broke an 11-game winless streak for the Bulldogs and also served as their frst Mountain West win. Fresno State now sits at 1-8-3 overall (1-2-1 MW) with seven regular season games remaining.
“I’m so happy for this group to see [a win] come to fruition,” said head coach Brian Zwaschka.
“We just needed to get over that hump, get that pressure of our back, and there isn’t a
person in the program that isn’t relieved that we’ve done that.”
The lone goal of the day came from sophomore forward Kaelyn Miller, who scored in the 64th minute of the match of an assist from midfelder Kassandra Ceja.
“I think Ceja and I just connect really well together and can read each other really well. When I saw she was on the ball and I saw that slip pass in, we just connected and scored.” Miller said.
Nevada maintained possession of the ball for most of the frst half, not allowing Fresno State to position itself ofensively.
Both teams also collected penalties by their respective players. Fresno State’s Valentina Vivas picked up a yellow card in
the 13th minute, while Nevada’s Emily Rich picked up her own in the 34th minute.
The beginning of the second half was a complete change of pace for Fresno State. The team kept the ball primarily in its possession and got a shot of within the frst three minutes of the half.
Fresno State began pushing ofensively in the 59th minute as Sam Tristan fred of her second consecutive shot of the half.
A few minutes later, Tristan’s fellow forward Miller scored the game winning shot.
Following the lone goal the ‘Dogs spent the rest of the match battling Nevada defensively as the Wolf Pack pushed to even the score.
Nevada’s fnal shot of the match came with just seconds remaining when its forward
Gabby Brown’s shot went out top in the 89th minute.
As the match came to a close, the Bulldogs had the chance to celebrate for the very frst time this year.
“Hopefully it’s a turning point, and the idea that every game in this league is a pivotal weekend. If you drop points, you need to keep going. And the fact that we picked up three points today puts us back in the mix with the majority of the conference,” Zwaschka said.
The Bulldogs’ win marks the end of their four-game homestand.
They now head to New Mexico to take on the Lobos on Thursday, Oct. 6 for their next conference match-up.
A pair of Fresno State women’s tennis players are representing the ‘Dogs in multiple fall season tournaments.
Pang Jittakoat and Matilde Magrini are competing in the ITA All-American championships as they fnish up play in the annual Battle of the Bay tournament. The pair fnished their season with the team ranked No. 65.
The ‘Dogs duo is fresh of their frst fall tournament where the two All-Mountain West caliber players made the quarterfnals in doubles play. The pair reached the quarterfnals with an 8-3 victory over Arizona State’s Marianna Argyrokastriti and Sedona Gallagher before falling to Pepperdine’s duo of Janice Tjen and Savannah Broadus.
Despite the loss, the two picked up two more victories in their fnal two exhibition matches.
The duo frst won 6-2 against USF’s Azaria Hayes and Qianer Qui and then 6-2 against San Francisco’s Hana Gamracy.
In singles play, both Jittakoat and Magrini sufered losses in their frst two matches.
However, Magrini made up for it with a two-set singles win in her third match 6-3, 6-3.
Jittakoat, the reigning Mountain West player of the year, followed suit by winning both of her fnal two matches to close out the weekend.
The pair is now in North Carolina competing in qualifying play to reach the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships.
The event will be hosted by University of North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke at the Cary Tennis Park.
The pre-qualifying round kicked of on Saturday and the qualifying play will run from Oct. 3-4.
Main draw play will be from Oct. 5-9.
Pang Jittakoat in her singles match against Colorado State. Melina Kazanjian — The Collegian
Matilde Magrini in her singles match against Fresno Pacific. Estela Anahi Jaramillo — The Collegian
Fresno State has had success producing professional athletes. Most well-known, however, are Derek Carr and Davante Adams, who were a tantalizing wide receiver and quarterback duo at Fresno State from 2012-2013.
Ten years later, the duo has reunited with the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL.
It was a long road before they were able to team up again. Carr was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 2014 NFL draft with their fourth pick of the second round. Adams was subsequently taken by the Green Bay Packers 16 picks later.
Even though they were not on the same team, it did not stop either of them from having success at the professional level.
Carr has been the starting quarterback of the Raiders since 2014.
He has led them to multiple playof appearances and has been selected to three Pro Bowls.
Meanwhile, Adams has built a reputation as one of the league’s most prolifc receivers and route runners.
He has put together three seasons of 1,300 or more yards and has been selected to two All-Pro teams.
On top of that, he has made fve Pro Bowls.
Both of these players have had much success in their professional careers, but getting to where they are today does not just appear out of thin air.
“I’ve never had an ‘I’ve arrived’ moment. I don’t like that word, ‘arrived.’ If you say you’ve arrived, then you’ve achieved your dream. You’ve done all you can. I’m the guy now. I don’t like that,” Adams said.
Pushing through the mental walls and adversity has shaped the player Adams is today.
Once he made the league, it was not time to stop. It was just the start.
Carr was also faced with extreme adversity, especially in college where he was forced to manage a multitude of responsibilities.
Frank Pucher, senior associate athletics director at Fresno State told a story about Carr’s child being born during the football season.
“He had a baby, and the baby had to have some very serious treatments. Derek was dealing with that while an active member of the team.
Going from practices to check on his son and family [and] all the mental strain and emotional strain that that probably put on him, but yet still being able to play quarterback of all positions at a high level, I think just speaks to his fortitude,” Pucher said.
Carr attested to the strain people face in life at a recent press conference.
“At the end of the day, nobody cares what you are going through, how your body feels. Nobody cares. We [have] got to do our job,” he said.
“Life is tough sometimes but you have to hold true to what you believe, hold true to who you are and be that person, whether it is easy or not.”
Carr pushed through the hardships with his child with that mentality as he led the Bulldogs to an 11-2 season in which he threw for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns with Adams at his side.
Their journeys have not been easy, and together they fnished their college careers as prominent fgures in Fresno State football’s history.
Carr’s number is retired at Valley Children’s Stadium.
As for Adams, his number will be retired this year when the Bulldogs host San Jose State on Oct. 15.
The duo just fnished Week Four of the NFL season. One of those games included a game where Carr connected with Adams for 10 catches, 141 yards and a touchdown.
The duo’s chemistry has continued in their professional careers, even after only playing for three weeks together.
The Raiders competed against the Broncos this past weekend.
Carr threw a total of 188 yards, Adams received a total of 101 yards.
Adams is still creating his image on the team, receiving the most yards in the game against the Broncos.
Las Vegas held possession of the ball longer than Denver had, with two of Carr’s passes turning into touchdowns.
Their next game will be a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 10.