Palomar College Board Removes Anti-Racism Policy

The Palomar College board of directors on Tuesday voted to remove an anti-racism board policy despite broad opposition from the public and many of the college’s students and faculty members. 

The board adopted the anti-racism policy in 2021 in response to the 2020 murder of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests. The policy reinforces the college’s commitment to racial equity and denounces all forms of racism. But on Tuesday, some board members said the policy could expose the college to litigation. 

“Having a policy like this sets us up as kind of a red flag… this could cause problems for all of us down the road,” Board President Jacqueline Kaiser said during the meeting. “…We’ve had discussions that, of course, you guys have not been privy to. We’ve talked to individuals and received counsel that we can’t share.” 

She added that the policy could create problems.  

“We need to look at the safety of this institution, and we all know, and we all heard, what the implications are if we don’t do anything,” she said. 

She and the other board members did not expand on what implications she was alluding to. 

Over the last several months, some universities and corporations have done away with policies related to diversity and inclusion in response to mandates from the Trump Administration, which has, in some cases, pulled federal funding from universities that keep these policies in place.  

Kaiser named several universities and corporations around the country that have eliminated similar anti-racism and Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) statements, including University of Florida, University of Michigan, Amazon, Meta, McDonalds and more. 

“These are the organizations that we want to prepare our students to go into, and that’s what’s happening out there,” Kaiser said. “Eliminating this policy isn’t saying that there can’t be other avenues where it’s addressed. But this particular policy, the way that it is, and having it be part of the board policies is problematic.” 

The policy states that Palomar Community College District is committed to, “taking action against all forms of racism and white supremacy.” It also states that the college will work toward “racial equity and eliminating structural and systemic racism and dismantling any practices or policies that perpetuate inequity.” 

The policy also included support for DEI, saying “DEI positively impacts student achievement, aids in retention, reduces implicit bias, and positively affects a multicultural pedagogy.” 

Board Trustee Yvette Acosta, who brought the idea forward, said at the meeting that the policy was “performative.” 

“The college already has very clear, enforceable, non-discrimination, equal opportunity and Title IX policies,” Acosta said. “These are state and federal laws against discrimination and racism. So, this is actually just performative.” 

Tuesday night’s meeting was packed with members of the public, as well as faculty and students. Every public speaker at the meeting urged the board to keep the policy. They argued that getting rid of it was sending a dangerous message to the school and the community.  

“Removing [the policy] would erode the trust that we have built between Palomar College, our students, and our community,” one student said during the meeting. “It would signal a retreat from our collective commitment to confront inequities that continue to impact access, retention, and representation.” 

“If a student or a faculty member experiences inequality, racism, or discrimination on this campus, how are they able to explain it if we’ve erased that very language? We are saying their experience does not exist,” a Palomar professor said during the meeting. “We’ve already removed the land acknowledgement, now we’re being asked to delete the language of equity and anti-racism.” 

That speaker was referring to a separate board decision in July where board members voted to no longer recite a land acknowledgement during board meetings recognizing the Indigenous roots of the region. 

Board Trustee Roberto Rodriguez suggested they create a subcommittee to rework the policy and bring it back to the board instead of removing it, saying that “elimination was not the only option given” to Palomar during the conversations other board members were alluding to. 

Kaiser, though, insisted that the policy needed to go. 

“I don’t think it’s wise to go back and to rehash and to open it back up again and to go down all these same paths again, and then have more meetings and more discussion,” Kaiser said. “All of this doesn’t change our final mandate of what we have to do.” 

She didn’t explain the “mandate” any further. 

The board ultimately voted 4-2 to axe the policy and then later create a subcommittee to “address the concerns.” They didn’t specify what addressing the concerns will look like or when the subcommittee will be formed. 

Trustees Kaiser, Acosta, Holly Hamilton Bleakley and Student Trustee Ariel Fridman voted in favor of the decision, while Rodriguez and Judy Patacsil were opposed.  

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