SBCC President Apologizes for Handling of Harassment Claims

After six months of sustained public outcry, and in response to a blisteringly critical letter signed by nearly three dozen faculty members, SBCC President Anthony Beebe publicly apologized last Wednesday for how the college responded to multiple harassment and hostile workplace claims filed by female employees against male colleagues. “My team and I made statements, took actions, and responded to difficult things over the last several months that have hurt members of our college community,” he said in his open letter. “I deeply regret that my actions caused harm.”

The saga began last March when chemistry professor Raeanne Napoleon sent an all-campus email outlining sexual assault allegations against Michael Shermer, a guest lecturer invited to speak at Santa Barbara City College by adjunct philosophy instructor Mark McIntire. In response, Shermer shot off strongly worded legal threats against Napoleon, while McIntire denounced her and her supporters as “hysterical victim posers” who “secreted” social justice “venom.” Mc­Intire’s continuing barrage of social media posts and private emails, which referred to the female professors as a “sorority,” prompted Napoleon and three other faculty members to file formal Title IX harassment claims against him.

As the Title IX investigations unfolded, SBCC fired McIntire, ostensibly for unacceptable teaching habits. McIntire claimed he was in fact let go for his comments and for being an outspoken Trump supporter on a mostly liberal campus. He said his statements were protected free speech, and he vowed to sue the school for wrongful termination. The two sides reached a $120,000 settlement agreement last month. At the time of his dismissal, McIntire, a member of the philosophy department for 13 years, was teaching a single online critical thinking course. Former SBCC president Lori Gaskin called the payout “a sad outcome for the college.”