Dr. Cruz writes that "our investigative process includes a determination as to whether discrimination or harassment occurred, and no one on the college's executive leadership team has been found to have engaged in discrimination or harassment." Cruz didn't cite who in investigated the executive leadership team, whether it was an internal MATC investigation, or an independent and impartial investigation.
By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
October 30, 2024
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Cruz Sent out his first letter to all the colleagues at MATC explaining his status quo position and Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) received a copy, which will be included in this article.
HNNUSA first reported on October 22, 2024, that multiple Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) employees (instructors), former MATC students and a community based organization leader from Voces de la Frontera spoke at the MATC Board meeting against the current discriminatory practices by the administration that resulted in retaliation practices as well for those exposing the issues affecting Latino students, instructors and employees at the technical college. (Video of testimony to the MATC District Board at: https://youtu.be/Lm_ImpZGXn4)
In the MATC District Board open public session, the Board heard that the administration ar MATC seemed to have a diminishing commitment to provide bilingual courses taught by qualified bilingual instructors instead of instructors that can only speak English. Also, the three EMMY Award winning bilingual Adelante show aired on Milwaukee PBS Channels 10 and 36 produced at MATC has been cut previously from 32 productions to 12 episodes, according to Patricia Gomez, the television Director/Producer/Host at Milwaukee PBS.
Luz Sosa, a bilingual economic instructor at MATC claimed, retaliation, discrimination and a lack of promotion opportunities at MATC. Sosa told the MATC District Board that she has served MATC for 13 years and has faced barriers that prevented her from advancing within MATC. "Over the past few years, I have faced retaliation for speaking out against issues that directly affect our students, faculty, and staff, particularly the Latino students, faculty, and staff, and I have experience discrimination that has stifled my professional growth."
"As a bilingual instructor, I have consistently demonstrated my ability to teach courses in both English and Spanish.
"Yet, bilingual courses have been assigned to instructors who do not speak Spanish, depriving students of the quality bilingual education they deserve. When I raised concerns about this, I was met not with support, but with hostility.
"Instead of addressing the issue, I was retaliated against. This retaliation took many forms, being overlooked for courses I am qualified to teach, being excluded from important discussions about the future of bilingual education, and, most painfully, being denied opportunities for promotion to a full time position, despite my qualifications and years of service at MATC."
According to Sosa, many fellow bilingual and minority instructors have been denied promotions regardless of their qualifications. There is a culture of retaliation, harassment, discrimination and exclusion at MATC and it affects many minorities at the technical college.
Sosa also told the Board that she had filed multiple complaints of discrimination and retaliation, but were dismissed without any meaningful investigation.
On October 28, 2024, Daryll L. Fortune, Director - Content and Public Relations at MATC and responded to the HNNUSA article dated October 22, 2024. Fortune statements were that Adelante has produced 9-12 programs per year for the last eight years and there has been no recent change to this. In recent Milwaukee Journal article about Adelante, Fortune indicated that MATC is working hard to provide more programs for the Latino community, but HNNUSA noticed that in the last 8 years, MATC hasn't allowed Adelante to produce more than the limited programming it has today. Why?
As to why MATC assigned monolingual instructors to advertised bilingual programs, Fortune stated, Our bilingual programs and classes are designed to help students whose first language is not English succeed in a college-level environment. In a competitive labor market for all instructors, finding bilingual instructors for our classes is a challenge, however we remain committed to this work. While we are not able to speak to any specific personnel issue, there are occasions when a bilingual instructor may already be scheduled in other courses and cannot take on an additional bilingual section. In a case such as this, a monolingual instructor may be assigned.
HNNUSA asked Fortune the following, if none speaking instructors are assigned to bilingual courses, then the course is no longer offered as bilingual, then why doesn't MATC declassify the course from bilingual to none bilingual and students registering for such course are made aware that the instructor is monolingual and not bilingual?
Also, why hasn't MATC looked for bilingual instructors working part time in its payroll and offered them the option to become full time (employees) positions to fill bilingual vacant positions for certain bilingual courses, instead of assigning monolingual instructors to those courses? Fortune has yet to respond.
Carlos Aranda, Counselor at MATC requested for the MATC District Board conduct an independent audit and investigation into the Human Resources hiring practices, and discrimination, harassment and retaliation cases at MATC.
In the recent letter by Dr. Cruz, he doesn't indicate that he will enforce accountability against the any practice of discrimination, harassment, retaliation and exclusion at MATC, but seems that he will contine the status quo at the college. Cruz seems to dismiss, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recent article depicting multiple documented cases of discrimination, harassment, retaliation and exclusion. If Dr. Cruz continues his stand to allow the status quo practices by the leadership team at the college, then sooner or later he will be facing a vote of no confidence by the very same colleagues at MATC. HNNUSA did noticed that Cruz didn't even apologized to the MATC colleagues for what many had endured before he arrived at MATC, nor did assure the colleagues that a investigation has been launched to address most of the issues that the colleagues are facing today, and assure that retaliation for addressing such issues will not be tolerated by him and the MATC District Board.
Time will tell, if Dr. Cruz will actually succeed in cleaning up the mess at MATC, by actually replacing the bad apples in his leadership team or he will just milk the cow (collect his salary) and then decide move on.
The following is Dr. Cruz's letter to the MATC colleagues dated October 30, 2024.
Dear MATC Colleagues:
In my first message to you as president, I focused on belonging and the way we treat one another and our students. These themes, along with a commitment to improving our culture, have been part of our discussions from Coordination Day through a series of Restorative Practices events and MATC Day earlier this month. At these events, team meetings, coffee sessions and more, I have heard about the growth and improvement already taking place and your thoughts on areas in which we have an opportunity to grow.
You may have read a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story published this week that focused on concerns expressed by former and current employees and recalling several incidents that have happened in the last five years. As I approach the 100-day mark as your president, I write to speak to you directly about the story and also reinforce my steadfast commitment of support for you and our students.
One aspect of the story was the time it takes from when a complaint is filed to when it is resolved. Indeed, there have been instances when the time it takes to communicate an ultimate resolution to complainants and respondents reduced the level of confidence in the process. As noted briefly in the story, the college has significantly improved its complaint process to resolve and communicate resolutions on matters more quickly whenever possible. This work was led by Human Resource Vice President Elle Bonds-Jones and General Counsel Sherry Terrell-Webb prior to my arrival, and I want to thank them for their leadership in this effort. Ms. Bonds-Jones also conducted a pay parity and equity review that led to needed salary adjustments. And as we have shared, the college launched affinity groups, anti-bias workshops for all employees, training for hiring panelists, an employee ombudsperson's office and a leadership academy to grow diverse talent.
In my experience leading at other higher education institutions, these are strong signs of growth in our culture. The college's continuing commitment to becoming a more equitable and inclusive institution is part of what drew me to my role here at MATC.
It is also important to note there were aspects of the story that could lead to inaccurate conclusions. As a matter of practice, we, like other employers, do not publicly discuss individual personnel matters. We believe situations with our employees are better handled confidentially than in the news media. For this reason, it is difficult to tell a fair and complete story about any individual incident through the news.
While I will not speak to any specific cases, anyone who is terminated from the college goes through a documented process. Multiple factors are considered and that person receives a detailed explanation of the factors and findings that generated the outcome. No terminated employee is denied an appeal in accordance with our grievance procedures. No employee is terminated for raising a concern or filing a complaint. In addition, our investigative process includes a determination as to whether discrimination or harassment occurred, and no one on the college's executive leadership team has been found to have engaged in discrimination or harassment.
I am confident in both our processes and the leaders who guide them.
At the same time, we do continue to have room to grow as an institution as we seek to be more equitable and inclusive. This includes updating the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Plan led by Interim Vice President Michael Rogers through town hall sessions this fall to inform the process. It also includes the Restorative Practices work led by Mr. Rogers and Ms. Bonds-Jones. Our growth will also be fueled by efforts led by Executive Vice President Dr. Phillip King to bring together academic and student service teams to strengthen supports for student success. These elements and others will shape our next strategic plan and lead us to be a stronger college.
A healthy culture is vital to the success of any organization, especially one as diverse as ours, where inclusion, equity and social mobility are at the forefront of our work. Embracing inclusivity and shared goals promotes unity, stronger relationships, and a more effective approach to problem-solving and community building. How we treat each other sets the tone for our students. I am committed to serving you, our employees, so you can better serve our students and help fulfill our mission.
Sincerely,
Anthony Cruz, Ed.D.
MATC President
