PCC Faculty, Mirroring College’s Academic Senate Board, Support No Confidence Vote in Superintendent/President Endrijonas

Full-time faculty at Pasadena City College directly supported a vote of no confidence in PCC Superintendent/President Dr. Erika Endrijonas, a college committee announced Wednesday.

PCC’s Academic Senate Elections and Nominations Committee said the majority of the 66 percent of full-time faculty who voted supported The Vote of No Confidence for President Endrijonas.

“Full-time faculty were given one week to vote. All votes were anonymous and at 5:45 PM on May 4 were revealed to Alex Boekelheide representing Dr. Endrijonas, the Academic Senate Executive Team, and the Elections and Nominations Committee. 276 out of 415 full-time faculty voted…” the committee said in an emailed statement.

The statement listed the results:

• 163 Faculty voted yes supporting the vote of no confidence

• 95 Faculty voted no not supporting the vote of no confidence

• 18 faculty abstained

It is expected that the result of Wednesday’s vote count will be delivered to the College’s Board of Trustees for consideration.

The vote follows an April 11 vote by the Pasadena City College Academic Senate Board.

The Academic Senate of PCC represents the faculty of the Pasadena Area Community College District. Its primary function is to make recommendations with respect to academic and professional matters.

The approved Senate Board resolution was “intended to bring attention to and public accountability for the pattern of failed leadership at PCC during the global coronavirus pandemic.”

The resolution approved on April 11 specifically cited Dr. Erika Endrijonas’ requirement — “and, by extension, the Board of Trustees” — that teachers return to in-campus teaching on January 24, “during the worst surge of the ongoing health crisis, and ignoring the distinct danger the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 posed to Faculty, Students, and Staff.”

At the time, the PCC Faculty Association wanted to delay the return delayed until February, but Dr. Endrijonas said the timing of the return was non-negotiable. Endrijonas’s requirement that the campus be re-opened and in-person classes restart led to weeks of turmoil on the campus which included teacher demonstrations, talk of a strike, and teacher absenteeism.

“Many faculty and students at Pasadena City College are very upset at being forced to return to in-person classes earlier than other local colleges and while Omicron was still surging,” wrote faculty member Shannon Maraghy. “We are a college that talks a lot about equity, but a one-size-fits-all policy of forcing people to return to campus is ableist and far from inclusive. For students/faculty who are immunocompromised or have vulnerable family members, coming to campus is literally a matter of life and death.”

In early February the PCC Faculty Association announced an agreement had been reached “on several key points” and that faculty members who teach face-to-face were expected to return to campus to teach their regular schedule beginning February 7.

After the Senate Board’s vote on April 11, Dr. Endrijonas issued a statement:

“While I disagree with the outcome of this vote, I absolutely support the Senate’s role in representing the views of its members in the life of the college. This is shared governance in action, which in my view is one of the most important principles guiding California’s community colleges.”