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Brother J.C.. who represents the Black Males Forum, voiced his displeasure with the school's decision to settle Skip
Robinson's sexual harassment lawsuit at the board of trustees meeting on May 16.
Some In The Community
Feel That PCC Should
Have Fought the Sexual
Harassment Suit
Christian Daly
Asst News Editor
Willie “Skip” Robinson has been no stranger
to controversy over the last year, and, with the
end of the semester quickly approaching and his
status at the college still up in the air, many won¬
der, what’s been going on with Skip?
Most recently, PCC settled a sexual harass¬
ment suit brought against Robinson for
$142,500, which outraged many members of the
community, including Robinson himself. "I am
innocent of all these allegations,” he said,
declining to elaborate because he is limited in
what he can say about the case.
In March, the board voted to demote Robin¬
son as athletic director effective July 1.
There are those who believe Robinson’s
demotion is tied to the allegations. Among those
is Brother J.C. of the Black Males Forum of
Pasadena, who believed the college should have
fought the suit. “We’re upset and trying to figure
this whole thing out. How can an employee of
37 years be demoted based on hearsay?" he said
at the board of trustees meeting on May 16.
However, PCC does not condemn Robinson
as guilty based on the fact they settled, said Sher¬
ry Hassan, business services director. “People
don’t realize that it costs money to go to trial."
Brother JC and the Black Males Forum
brought Robinson’s case before the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission.
According to J.C., the EEOC conducted its own
investigation and found that the person who
brought forth the lawsuit, Kelley Mueller, had
no right in the court of law and that they would
not support her claim. However, this informa¬
tion was not made known to Robinson as PCC
proceeded to settle the case.
“Although the EEOC conducted their
research, it doesn’t prevent someone from filing
a lawsuit,” said Robinson.
Brother J.C. also claimed the settlement made
by PCC demoralized Robinson because he was
not given a chance to fight for himself. “We will
be [at the next board meeting] to find out what
has really been going on [because] this thing will
not be tiptoed into the sunset. This is on behalf
of Skip Robinson and whoever else you have
done wrong to.”
Over the last five years, the college has spent
$ 196,000 to settle four cases, the most expensive
being the Mueller case.
Mueller, a former student and personal assis¬
tant to Robinson from 2003 to 2004, filed the
suit against PCC and Robinson in November
2005.
In the case documents, Mueller gave many
accounts of when Robinson crossed the lines of
See ‘Settlement’ - Page 4
Campus
Safety
Remains
An Issue
Jose Panuco
Staff Writer
A constant concern among students is
how safe they are in class. Students and
professors have different views about how
the safety of students should be treated.
Some speculate that having barred win¬
dows in classrooms is putting the students'
lives in danger during a fire.
Some are also questioning why the park¬
ing lots do not have surveillance cameras.
Since there are no emergency drill proce¬
dures for students and teachers, there is
concern that people will not know what to
do in case of an emergency.
"There’s a lot of frustration and a lot of
concern," said Rob Lee, director of the
writing center.
“There are no emergency drills and
there’s no training for faculty. We can’t be
notified because classrooms don’t have
phones.”
Although some felt there was a privacy
issue for having cameras inside the parking
structures, there are four cameras inside
the writing center.
PCC Police Chief Peter Michael is tak¬
ing action to ensure student safety on cam¬
pus. Michael is encouraging teachers and
faculty to have a plan of action in the event
of an earthquake or fire.
“At the beginning of every school semes¬
ter, teachers should spend five to 10 min¬
utes with students to go over the [emer¬
gency] procedures,” said Michael.
Some procedures have been difficult for
the teachers and faculty to go through
because of participation with students.
“It is one of the things we have been try¬
ing to implement, but it is difficult to con¬
duct a fire drill,” said Michael.
Some faculty members think that admin¬
istrators believe the chances of an event
like the one that occurred at Virginia Tech
happening on this campus are slim to
none.
Michael says that like police, the campus
itself should be prepared for anything that
can happen.
In a place like PCC where students with
different goals attend, they may not know
who may attempt to steal a car or commit
other crimes.
Students encounter problems every day,
whether it’s a verbal conflict or a physical
fight. Different mentalities are what have
people concerned for the safety on campus.
“If they [students] concentrate on a cer¬
tain area like PCC, which is very diverse,
there is bound to be problems” said
Michael.
Problems like removing the barred win¬
dows in certain buildings on campus costs
money, which PCC may not be able to pay.
“The facility may cost too much to retro¬
fit the windows,” said Michael.
Michael is in favor of having security
cameras installed in the parking lots and is
waiting for the company Nortel to provide
a cost for his proposal to install them.
After the events of Virginia Tech, some
are concerned with procedures that should
See ‘Safety’ - Page 4
End Of An Era
Journalism Adviser Retires After 34 Years
On the Flipside
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