The board of Trustee member who was recently accused of trafficking in QAnon conspiracies and misinformation, in an email sent to the Long Beach Post by the Trustee President, responds by saying, “I don’t even know what QAnon is.”
Trustee member, Virginia Baxter, laughed when she said she had to look up what these terms meant in a phone call with The Viking. She followed with, “I didn’t mean to laugh, maybe people are serious about it.”
Baxter’s running opponent, Juan Cepeda-Rizo, said in an email to The Viking that he agrees with Trustee President Uduak-Joe Ntuk’s suggestion that she creates dysfunction on the board.
Ntuk stated that in his opinion, he believed Baxter to criticize Long Beach CIty College’s ethnic study courses by claiming they are bad for the students.
Baxter responded to these attacks by saying that she refutes those claims and agrees with LBCC’s ethnic study programs. However, she could not recall the specific board meeting when these discussions took place.
In addition, Ntuk has also failed to provide actual accounts of Baxter fulfilling these accusations and he continues to double down on his claims.
But, Cepeda-Rizo recalls times when she has offended the Long Beach City College Black Staff and Faculty Association by calling a scholarship that is aimed towards black students “interesting.”
Baxter was also accused of “hispandering” by her challenger, Cepeda-Rizo. Hispandering is used as a modern term to combine ‘pandering’ and ‘Hispanic.’ This term is often used by politicians who feel their constituents pander to the wants of the Hispanic community.
“She also asked why this scholarship was not offered to Hispanic students,” says Cepeda-Rizo, “and I know that she was trying to pander to the Hispanic community because she was running against me…Sometimes comments like this leak out and show us a glimpse of the real person.”
As Ntuk is not Baxter’s opponent in this election she finds it fascinating that he would take the time to publish these statements regarding her character. When asked if she had an idea as to why he might take this sort of action, she responded to The Viking and said, “I don’t mind-read.”
Cepeda-Rizo states, “I believe President Ntuk is raising questions about Ginny’s judgment and decision making.” Baxter’s opponent shared that Ntuk is the only board member that has offered him policy advice and support and has been supportive of his STEM focused proposals.
Baxter admitted that Ntuk has never made any attacks or threats during previous meetings or in other work settings. However, in regards to the Trustee president making threatening remarks outside of work settings she responded that she was unable to comment.
The two, Ntuk and Baxter, do not have a relationship outside of work and have not spoken since the initial article was written by the Long Beach Post. She added that Ntuk has always been respectful to her during meetings.
“I’m distressed, but not for myself,” said Baxter, “This is a poor reflection of the college. I’m just focused on helping the students.”