Students and workers at the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) have lost confidence in MATC President Cruz and want his investure postponed.
By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
August 27, 2025
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On Tuesday, the majority of Milwaukee Area Technical College Board of Trustees voted to limit speakers to 3 minutes instead of the usual 5 minutes allowed for those who signed up to address the elimination of the Multicultural Affairs Office and termination of 4 student services specialists. Some of the speakers accused the MATC Human Resources of lack of transparency and not giving prior notice to employees regarding wage reduction up to 7% for part time instructors and eliminating positions without allowing employees to be reassigned to other available positions as practiced in the past without being terminated. In this case, the 4 employees of color that were fired seemed to have been blatantly discriminated and legal action is being considered, if their employee rights were violated at the technical college, according to MATC AFT Local 212 union sources.
Floyd C. Griffin III, the African-American student services specialist at the Multicultural Affairs Office whose position was eliminated alleged that many of MATC's Black administrators who decided to eliminate his job and the Multicultural Affairs Office have created a "culture of fear and retaliation" at the technical college under the leadership of MATC President Dr. Anthony Cruz. Griffin III stated, "Many of the leaders driving this decision are themselves leaders of color. This is not just about race in the simplistic sense, it is about a culture of fear and retaliation that's overtaken this institution...Eliminating multicultural specialists here does not just undermine the department, it undermines the trust of our entire community."
Griffin III also asked the Board why wasn't he and three other staff members who were terminated not reclassified, or reassigned to other available positions at the college? The fired employees were encouraged by human resources to reapply for jobs positions, if they qualified, all of the fired employees have credible advisory experience.
According to MATC, only the manager and international service specialist from the Multicultural Affairs Office were allowed to transferred to the newly created Office of Community Impact, both are Hispanic, according to MATC sources.
On August 20, Michael Rogers, the Vice-President of Student Engagement and Community Impact notified MATC employees that the Multicultural Affairs Office was being eliminated and replaced by Office of Community Impact under the direction of Dr. Cruz, but it didn't mention that 4 student services specialists were being terminated without being given the opportunity to be reclassified, or transferred to other available positions on campus.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of Voces de la Frontera told the Board that MATC never included any participation from members of the community in discussions regarding the proposed elimination of the Multicultural Affairs Office.
Dr. Cruz held multiple listening sessions in the Milwaukee area about his 5-year plan for MATC, but he never brought up that he had decided to eliminate the Multicultural Affairs Office in order to comply with Trump's elimination of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices at educational institutions, and if institutions failed to comply, they would lose federal funding, which three federal courts have ruled that the threat of losing federal funding for not complying with the elimination of DEI was unconstitutional and illegal.
On Tuesday, dozens of students, employees, alumni and community of color representatives protested the elimination of the Multicultural Affairs Office and demanded for MATC to reinstate the 4 fired employees of color.
Also, the protesters are demanding for the investure of Dr. Cruz by the Board to be postponed indefinitely due to a lack of confidence by MATC employees, students and members of the communities of color.
On Wednesday, Carlos Aranda, the Counselor at the MATC Campus in Milwaukee began to circulate an email directed at the MATC Board of Trustees.
The circulated email reads as follows: Dear Members of the District Board of Milwaukee Area Technical College, August 26 was a significant day for our institution and community. We witnessed African-American, Asian-American, Latino, and Native-American voices unite to call for justice in response to decisions that reflect unilateral control, systemic oppression, and abuse of power.
On August 19, 2025, four Student Services Specialists—a Native American employee, an African American employee, a Latino employee, and an Asian American employee—received termination letters without any consideration of alternatives such as reassignment, retraining, or lateral transfer, as required by applicable policy. These letters were issued by Mr. Michael Rogers, Vice President of Student Engagement and Community Impact.
This same Vice President has previously denied Fair Work Arrangement (FWA) requests to his staff, while similar positions in other departments were approved. The individuals most affected by these actions have consistently been women of color. These concerns were previously raised with both the President and the Board, in writing and verbally, yet no corrective action was taken. There is a documented history of decisions that have disproportionately harmed women of color and other minority employees. The recent termination of these four employees, approved by the President, has now caused profound harm.
As a mental health provider, I must underscore that this pattern of behavior is severely impacting the psychological safety and well-being of employees. Just last week, MATC Public Safety was dispatched for a wellness check on one of the employees who was terminated. The termination letters sent to these individuals—all people of color—contained language that fails to align with MATC's WeCare standards and principles of respect and dignity in the workplace. This is deeply unethical and inconsistent with the values our college stands for.
Who advised the President to proceed in this manner? These decisions represent a serious failure to uphold ethical and professional standards, exposing MATC to reputational harm and further eroding trust among employees and the communities we serve.
With respect and a focus on integrity, I request the following immediate actions:
1. Reinstatement of the four terminated employees without delay.
2. A transparent, independent investigation into the decision-making process, including those who advised or approved these actions.
3. Accountability measures for all individuals responsible, including the Vice President named above and any current managers found to have engaged in unethical conduct.
The credibility of MATC and the trust of our diverse community are at stake. Inaction is not an option. Please confirm when these employees will be reinstated and what steps will be taken to ensure accountability and prevent future harm, Aranda wrote in the email.
The students and the communities of color want the 4 fired student services specialists reinstated as soon as possible.
HNNUSA article link: https://tinyurl.com/h8fvxp44
Live streaming of the MATC Board of Trustees, August 26, 2025 link (First 50 minutes of board meeting open for public comments): https://www.youtube.com/live/lqQncZsBrl4
MATC Local 212 AFT statement regarding the closure of the Multicultural Affairs Office and termination of 4 Student Services Specialists at link: https://www.wispolitics.com/2025/american-federation-of-teachers-local-212-statement-on-closure-of-multicultural-affairs-at-matc/
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