SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — Sonoma State College President Judy Sakaki will step down amid a scandal involving sexual harassment stories about her husband and alleged retaliation by Sakaki towards a faculty provost, in accordance with a information report Monday.
Sakaki stated in a press release that she is going to depart on July 31, calling her tenure as college president “an honor,” the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.
“After considerate reflection and discussions with my household, I made the choice to step away as president of this excellent campus,” she stated.
Sakaki, 69, has been embroiled in controversy since April, when the Press Democrat reported that the California State College system paid a $600,000 settlement to a former Sonoma State provost. The fee was meant to resolve a dispute associated to sexual harassment complaints from a number of feminine college staff towards Sakaki’s husband, Patrick McCallum.
Lisa Vollendorf, the provost, claimed Sakaki retaliated after she reported the complaints about McCallum to the CSU Chancellor’s Workplace in late 2018.
Sakaki, who denies any retaliation occurred, introduced her separation from McCallum on April 18.
McCallum’s habits that made employees uncomfortable was described as lingering hugs, looking at ladies’s breasts and brushing hair off their faces in an excessively acquainted method.
McCallum has apologized for what he described as “gregarious” habits.