UPDATE: Fresno State to host Community Forum on May 3.
PRESS RELEASE: (May 1, 2018) — University President Joseph I. Castro is inviting Fresno State alumni, friends and broader community members to participate in a Community Forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 3, at the Save Mart Center.
“One of the most important parts of my job is to ensure I’m listening carefully to our stakeholders and community members,” Castro said. “After the recent incident involving one of our employees who made inappropriate comments on social media after the passing of former First Lady Barbara Bush, purposeful listening is even more important.”
Fresno State currently employs about 2,500 faculty and staff members, and has a record-high 25,000 students enrolled. Castro will also host a similar listening session for students, faculty and staff on May 2, which will be closed to the media and the public so campus participants feel more comfortable sharing their views.
He said these conversations with the community, faculty, staff, students and alumni will be essential to helping the University strengthen its focus and practices.
FRESNO, CA (KMJ) -Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro has announced the university will be holding a school forum in wake of Professor Randa Jarrar’s offensive tweets about the late Barbara Bush.
In a statement, Castro says the forum will be Wednesday, May 2 in the North Gym 118.
II will include Dr. Thomas Holyoke, chair of the Fresno State Academic Senate, and Blake Zante, president of ASI, as well as members of Dr. Castro’s leadership team.
English Professor Randa Jarrar made controversial comments in April on Twitter, calling First Lady Barbara Bush “an amazing racist,” and creating a social media storm.
In the statement released, Dr. Joseph Castro said they concluded Professor Jarrar did not violate any CSU or university policies, as she was “acting in a private capacity and speaking about a public matter on her personal twitter account.”
Dr. Castro called Professor Jarrar’s conduct “insensitive, inappropriate and an embarrassment to the University.” He continued by saying “Let me be clear, on campus and whenever we are representing the university, I expect all of us to engage in respectful dialogue.”
Fresno State indicated in a tweet that the forum is only for faculty, students and staff. A public forum will be announced, soon.
