Cal Poly Humboldt Hopeful for New President

After Cal Poly Humboldt University Senate Chair and General Faculty President Christopher Harmon watched the California State University Board of Trustees meeting announcing Richard Carvajal as the campus’ new president, he reached out over email to congratulate him. To his surprise, Carvajal quickly responded. Through their casual conversation, Harmon learned that Carvajal lived in Humboldt through his middle school years.

“That’s very encouraging to me, that, you know, a person who’s already a university president can take the time to respond like that so quickly to someone like myself,” Harmon said.

Carvajal — a first-generation college student, a Humboldt native and CPH’s first Latino president — will be starting his term Jan. 20. He will be transitioning from his role as president at Valdosta State University after nine years of serving the institution.

“Growing up in Humboldt County, I often dreamed of attending Cal Poly Humboldt — then Humboldt State — but never imagined I would one day become its president,” Carvajal said in a mass email sent out to the campus community by CPH. “So, to return to my roots in this role is a true honor.”

Faculty and students looking for connection

Based on what he knows so far, Harmon is optimistic Carvajal will be a good fit for the university and continue Interim President Michael Spagna’s work. Of all the potential candidates, Carvajal has the distinction of growing up in Humboldt, which Harmon hopes will help him appreciate the area’s influence on campus culture.

“You can’t put that on a resume as professional experience. Like, that’s just who he is,” Harmon said. “So, I think that’s huge. It’s literally something he was born with.”

Eduardo Cruz, Associated Students president and a former President Search Committee student representative, said he found Carvajal to be kind, charismatic and student-centered in his approach. He said he would like to see more consistent, up-to-date communication with students under the new administration, of which Spagna has set a precedent.

“We need someone who is going to be here and set that solid foundation of how we work together, how we can be collaborative, and how we can help each other,” Cruz said. “It’s not just our job to work with admin, but sharing back that information from the administration to make it digestible for students and so that they’re aware of issues that are happening on campus.”

California Faculty Association Humboldt President Ryder Dschida said the union is ready to work with Carvajal and also wants to see a continued presence from him and meetings with leadership figures on campus. 

“I just want to see Carvajal take the reins and really make himself open and, again, accessible to the campus community,” Dschida said. “I think that is, it’s low hanging fruit, to be sure, but I mean, the bar was set pretty low by the past administration.”

Harmon, Dschida and Cruz consider Humboldt to be a unique place with its own challenges. Harmon and Cruz both expressed concern about the retention of students and faculty, and would like the incoming president to embrace Humboldt’s culture and dynamics.

“I definitely hope he helps incorporate more of that Humboldt charm within the university, and shows people that this is actually a great place to be,” Cruz said. “There actually is a lot more to do. I know we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere, but you can definitely find your ventures throughout Humboldt County.”

Dschida said he understands that Carvajal cannot address every issue facing students and faculty, such as the CSU system not following through on its promise to raise wages for faculty, but hopes he will have compassion nonetheless.

“If he can just be empathetic toward those issues, I think that would go a long way toward making people on campus feel that he’s one of us, rather than someone who has been appointed here by Long Beach to mind house for about five years while they keep revolving the door,” Dschida said.

Spagna’s seal of approval

At a press conference on Sept. 15, Spagna spoke positively of his interactions with Carvajal and believed his reception by faculty and students will be similar. The CPH presidential search was originally supposed to conclude in March, but was pushed back several months. Spagna said he believes the extra time worked out well for the campus.

“I’m glad it was extended. We got the right person, and this person is going to be phenomenal for this university,” Spagna said.

Spagna’s year of leadership saw several accomplishments, including a 4 percent increase in enrollment, the implementation of direct enrollment and dual enrollment programs for high school students, efforts to make tuition more affordable, the launch of five new polytechnic programs, and an 89 percent increase in housing occupancy on campus. He pointed out that his soon-to-be successor has seen similar successes at Valdosta State University, including the development of new academic programs, increased enrollment and bolstered support for the campus’ athletics department.

“He’s been a great fundraiser. He has built, built, built at that university,” Spagna said. “He is a first-generation college student himself, and somebody that has a great deal of empathy and camaraderie with students. In my conversation with him today, he expressed his excitement to come and join the university, and I couldn’t be more delighted that we have him.”

A commonality Carvajal and Spagna both share is maintaining consistency with their leadership. Carvajal previously served nine years as Augusta State University’s president, which had six presidents over eight years before him. When Spagna stepped up as the provost of CSU Dominguez Hills, the university had also gone through six provosts in eight years.

“I am completely confident he will bring a level of stability and longevity to this university that will really guide it through the next several years that, as I mentioned earlier, are going to be pivotal as Cal Poly Humboldt takes its place among the two other Cal Polys in the entire system,” Spagna said.

Spagna stepped up as interim president after previous CPH President Tom Jackson Jr. stepped down and retreated into a professorship in July of 2024. While he oversaw Humboldt’s milestone transition into a polytechnic institution, Jackson also drew ire from the campus and surrounding community for some of his actions.

Those include comments he made during a welcome address in 2022 about Title IX investigations that some saw as an attempt to silence survivors of sexual assault and harassment, as well as the university evicting students living in their cars on campus and undercutting a nonprofit’s effort to purchase a property in Arcata for senior housing by paying double the price. 

Then came the occupation of Siemens Hall.  

Spagna, who prioritized rebuilding trust and communication with the campus after the response to the eight-day pro-Palestine occupation and protest in April of 2024, said Humboldt’s history of student activism was one of several subjects he discussed with Carvajal.

“I have said in a bunch of different domains that students are the conscience of America,” Spagna said. “Pay attention to that. Lean in, understand where students are, how they can be supportive. And I think that he embraces that activism should be part of the education process.”

Rebuilding trust after Jackson

While Jackson’s tenure lasted a little more than five years, Dschida said he could count the number of times he met with him on one hand. Jackson’s presidency and leadership style left him with a reputation as an elusive figure, rarely appearing at campus events or faculty meetings and having minimal communication with students and staff. This disconnect came to a head during the 2024 pro-Palestine occupation and protest that took place on campus. 

Most of the campus community strongly disagreed with Jackson and former Chief of Staff Mark Johnson’s handling of the protest, resulting in the University Senate publishing a vote of no confidence and asking them both to resign. On the eighth day of the protest, hundreds of police in riot gear sourced from in and outside of the county swept through the campus and detained dozens of protestors, along with one professor and one journalist.

Harmon said he hopes that Carvajal will embrace the student activism embedded in CPH’s culture and help heal the damaged relationship between the campus and the administration.

“[Jackson] left us a legacy of kind of ruling from up on high, you know, from not being present to meet with the faculty,” Harmon said. “So, I think because that’s been the last two presidents, it has left a bad taste in our mouths for what the administration is.”

Cruz said he never met Jackson during his time at CPH and wants to see resources and support from the administration that helps empower students and establish trust, especially when it comes to student activism.

“I definitely think … having a softer approach, like actually communicating and talking, being there with the students, listening to the needs and concerns, is definitely the better way to approach it than what you saw one year ago,” Cruz said.

Harmon and Dschida both mentioned that they would like to see accessibility issues addressed at the university rife with hills and stairs, as well as buildings old and new that lack accommodations for those with mobility issues. 

They also want continued communication and compassion for the campus population. Cruz said he is excited for possible opportunities during this new campus era for strengthening connections with Latinx and Indigenous communities and continuing sustainability efforts.

“We have a strong Latino community, and really being able to strengthen that together, especially in these scary times for mixed-status or undocumented students, and really shining a light for these students who are in scary situations within our campus,” Cruz said.

After the rupture between the administration, faculty and students amid and in the wake of the occupation protest, Dschida and others are ready to see what Carvajal has to offer.

“We’re excited to work with him, and we hope that we can form a lasting and positive relationship to repair the damage that’s been done over the past decade or so on campus,” Dschida said. “We are willing to — at least I am willing to — let the past be the past and look toward the future.”

Griffin Mancuso (he/him) is a freelance journalist based in Eureka. He is passionate about uplifting the stories of local communities and wildlife education and preservation. More of his work can be found at griffinmancuso.wordpress.com.

This article appears in Red-Light Women, Part II.