Seven supporters of Trustee Virginia Baxter took the stand for public comment at a meeting to call on Trustee Udak-Joe Ntuk to give a public apology to Baxter. Some even asked that he step down from his position after accusing Baxter of being a supporter of QAnon and replacement theory in an email to the Long Beach Post.
The day after the meeting, Ntuk sent the Long Beach Post an email thread between Baxter and Jeff Kellog as an example of her racially insensitive behavior.
The emails pointed at a letter from retired LBCC library head Ramchandran Sethuraman who had praised the college and Ntuk for protecting the campus from white supremacy and beating Kellog out of the latest election for the board.
The emails sent between Baxter and Kellog to the LB Post read as follows:
“Now you don’t have to be nice to Dr. Seth!” Baxter wrote.
“Don’t remember him or ever having a conversation with him,” Kellogg responded. “He sounds like a big supporter of mine and white people in general. Lol!”
“Yes but he loves me!!” Baxter replied.
“What happened is this teacher who loves me wrote this horrible thing about Jeff. I forwarded it because I would wanna know if someone said something negative about me which I probably shouldn’t have done,” said Baxter.
“I talked to Dr. Seth and I said, ‘ I am sorry if you think I insulted you and he said, ‘oh don’t worry about it was a long time ago,’” said Baxter.
Baxter believes some of the accusations from Ntuk stem from her opposing vote in the firing of ex-faculty member Kashara Moore and his attempt to swing the election of the board in his favor in the upcoming election.
“I would say we had a good relationship before this,” said Baxter, referring to her relationship with Ntuk.
At the meeting on Wednesday, former LBCC professor, Charlotte Joseph spoke out in support of Baxter.
“The board president used his position, played politics, and unjustly made claims that are untrue, are false and only could benefit his political future or claims,” said Charlotte Joseph.
Baxter also sent dates to Viking News to prove she has been an advocate for ethnic studies unlike what Ntuk has said.
Baxter voted in favor of the motion on Oct. 28, 2020, Dec. 21, 2020, and Mar. 24, 2021.
Ntuk said to the Long Beach Post, “I do not have an apology and certainly not a resignation for speaking truth to my lived experience with my colleague.”
Dana Buchannan was the first out of the seven to take the stand opening with a letter written by the hall of fame inductee, John Malvo, who is also president of the Long Beach Central Area Association. He wrote of his familiarity with Baxter and acknowledged the work she had done with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as she had been honored by them in the past.
Buchanan then followed the letter with her comments.
“I am appalled and disgusted at the politicization of your position Udak, shame on you for maligning her good name,” she said.
Several other residents followed after her including Felton Wiliams, a former LBCC dean, who requested that Udak Joe give a public apology along with several other community members that requested the same.
“The comments that were made are disrespectful to someone who has dedicated their lives to students and this college,” Williams said to the Viking.
Robyn Gordon Peterson read a statement at the podium on behalf of Naomi Ray Pearson, President of the Long Beach Branch of the NAACP.
“I was born in Mississippi during the tumultuous civil rights and definitely know and understand racism. Dr. Baxter is not a racist,” said Peterson on behalf of Pearson.
“We should be working collaboratively as a team to generate student enrolment so that we don’t have time to disparage,” Williams added.