The PCC Board of Trustees issued the following statement yesterday on the PCC website:
Dr. Anthony R. Fellow, President of the Board of Trustees of the Pasadena City College District, confirmed the invitation extended by the Board of Trustees to Dr. Eric Walsh, the City of Pasadena’s Director of Public Health, as its Spring 2014 commencement speaker. Dr. Fellow noted that a second invitation had unfortunately been extended to another distinguished candidate, movie producer Dustin Lance Black, an alumnus of the college.It's worth noting -- to me, if not anyone else -- that Board President Fellows was quite disappointed with Dustin Lance Black's past sexual behaviors:
Dr. Fellow also announced that a review of the events was ordered by the Board of Trustees because of the serious concerns expressed in public responses to press and Internet reports that an invitation had been made to Mr. Black and then rescinded.
The invitation of Dr. Walsh followed the College’s standing policy and procedure. Board of Trustees Policy 4900 (attached), requires that invitations for commencement speakers are to be approved only by the Board of Trustees and extended only by the college president. It turned out, however, that a second invitation had been previously offered outside of the traditional channel, to movie producer Dustin Lance Black. This earlier invitation to Mr. Black was an honest error, but was issued before the Board acted and without the Board’s knowledge.
The results of the review show that Student Trustee Simon Fraser issued an invitation to Mr. Black through Mr. Black’s administrative assistant with the knowledge and concurrence of Dr. Robert H. Bell, Assistant Superintendent and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. Mr. Black could have reasonably concluded that he had been officially invited to speak. But at no time did a recommendation to invite Mr. Black ever reach the college president or the Board, nor were the college president and the Board aware that this invitation had been sent to Mr. Black’s assistant.
Dr. Robert Bell today offered public apologies to the college’s 2014 commencement speaker, Dr. Eric Walsh, to movie producer Dustin Lance Black, who mistakenly received an invitation to speak, and to the constituents of the Pasadena City College District. “Due to errors in following procedure for which I am responsible, we have embarrassed our commencement speaker, Dr. Walsh, by inadvertently involving him in a controversy; we have embarrassed our esteemed alumnus Dustin Lance Black because of an invitation that was mistakenly delivered to his representative, and we owe the public an apology for involving Pasadena City College in a confusing situation that has unfortunately spilled over into public comment on homophobia.”
Board President Dr. Fellow said, “Mr. Black does not deserve this controversy nor does Pasadena City College. Board members are unanimous and clear in their position that details of Mr. Black’s personal life have no place in public discussion, especially if Mr. Black has been the victim of recrimination and revenge.” Dr. Fellow emphasizes that the Board’s decision was not related to a negative view of Mr. Black, his work or sexual orientation.
A representative of the PCC Board of Trustees was present last November to congratulate Mr. Black on receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Community College League of California. As in the past Mr. Black has stated his admiration for his alma mater and the college, and the college has always expressed its admiration for Mr. Black, his distinguished professional work and his fight against homophobia in America. Mr. Black was graduated with honors from Pasadena City College in May 1994 with an Associate of Arts degree.
The Board of Trustees has reached out directly to Mr. Black’s representative.
Board President Anthony Fellow went on to say in the statement that Black did not deserve this controversy. He said that the Board members were unanimous and clear in their position that details of Black’s personal life had no place in public discussion, especially if Black had been the victim of recrimination and revenge.So if you are a public figure who has engaged in "unsafe sexual practices" (i.e., bareback sex), you are setting a bad example to young people. It doesn't matter the nature of the relationship or any process that you went through to make the decision to stop using condoms. You are apparently unfit to give a commencement speech.
However, in an email to Associated Students President Jordyn Orozco, Fellow gave other reasons that might have gone into the decision making.
“Black some years ago participated in unsafe sexual practices that have now gone public,” Fellow said in an email to Associated Students President Jordyn Orozco in early April. “A public figure needs to set an example for our young people.”
The college’s prepared statement, which was posted to the college’s website Monday evening, contained an unusual “additional questions and answers” section in which the district provided answers to two questions it posed of itself. In it, the district said that statements in emails about Black were never intended to be publicized.