Two employee groups have issued a vote of no confidence in Cal Poly Pomona President Soraya Coley, citing her mishandling of two embezzlement cases, reduction in staffing and concerns over campus safety.
Both the California State University Employees Union Chapter 319 executive board and the Statewide University Police Association members employed at the college released statements Wednesday, Feb. 1, announcing the no confidence votes.
All seven members of the executive board for CSUEU 319, the union representing custodians, nurses and clerical campus staff, approved a vote of no confidence directed at Coley. The vote was supported by CSUEU President Catherine Hutchinson, Chapter 319 President Hector Maciel said by phone Wednesday.
“The CSUEU and Chapter 319 are no longer confident that President Soraya Coley is capable of leading the university,” the union’s statement read. “Her unethical leadership, malfeasance, violation of campus policies and institutional integrity, and display of misconduct have negatively impacted the entire campus community.”
A full vote of the “roughly 750” CSUEU members employed at the university is under consideration, according to Maciel.
Meanwhile, the university’s police union, made up of 17 members, also voted unanimously, with the support of SUPA President Matt Kroner.
“The SUPA members employed by CSU Pomona are no longer confident that President Soraya Coley is capable of effectively leading the campus,” the police union’s statement read.
The votes of no-confidence come on the heels of a October 2022 whistleblower lawsuit filed by university police Sgt. Marcus Simpson accusing Coley of systematically blocking an embezzlement probe to protect the school’s reputation and preserve her job, which she has held since January 2015.
In the lawsuit, Simpson claims he and other officers who challenged Coley about not reporting criminal activity and changing police reports were retaliated against.
Cal Poly Pomona officials have previously denied the lawsuit’s allegations.
The union votes announced Wednesday reference the ongoing lawsuit and Coley’s alleged interference in the embezzlement cases.
“Some of the stated issues are related to a current lawsuit. Cal Poly Pomona believes that the allegations in the lawsuit substantially misrepresent the facts,” university spokesperson Cynthia Peters said Wednesday.
In response to the CSUEU 319 executive board’s vote of no confidence, it “did not follow any vote by, nor prior notification of, chapter members,” Peters said.
“While the president and campus leadership have not received any notification of either of these votes from the unions, the president always welcomes the opportunity to engage with them on important issues,” Peters continued.
Other concerns raised by the CSUEU 319 executive board include the downsizing of departmental staff, lack of promotions for employees and Coley’s “recent pay raise of $100,307, which raised her base salary to $440,554,” according to the union’s statement.
In response, Peters said issues such as salary steps and presidential salary and compensation are determined and managed by the California State University chancellor’s office, not Cal Poly Pomona.
The police union has also taken issue with the handling of the 2018 on-campus stabbing death of security officer Mark Manlapaz. The suspected assailant, Rodney Lee Hunter Jr., a campus custodian, ran at police and was shot and killed, according to officials.
“(SUPA) members considered Ms. Coley’s apparent lack of leadership abilities as demonstrated by her perceived failures to appropriately address the needs and concerns of university employees,” the union statement released Wednesday reads in part.
“As the events (in the 2018 case) unfolded and in the immediate aftermath, President Coley was in frequent contact with both families,” Peters wrote in a statement last month. “She personally visited the Manlapaz family the next day and was with Manlapaz’s mother at the time of the Sheriff’s Department’s press conference.”
In a follow-up statement Wednesday afternoon, Simpson, who is also the police union’s chapter director, reiterated that Coley should no longer hold her position.
“The members of Cal Poly Pomona, State University Police Association do not believe that President Coley can effectively and ethically lead Cal Poly Pomona,” Simpson said. “We believe President Coley should resign, retire or be fired by the Chancellor’s Office.”
