Time’s Up, Mark Johnson: he does not belong at Humboldt

By Jordan Huber

Over the last week, I spent many hours watching and rewatching the recently released bodycam footage from the Pro-Palestine protest that took place on April 22 on campus. The anger. The fear. The desperation in the voices of my fellow students, as what was supposed to be a sit-in protest erupted into national-headline clashes with police, still leaves me in shock 4 months later. 

My mind started to go even further back. I recalled how last fall, the university endangered students who were living out of vehicles by forcing them off of school parking lots at night, further exposing an already vulnerable segment of the student population. 

There is a pattern of dehumanization of students that has taken place this past year. This culture of mistreatment and harm of students coincides with the hire of the Chief of Staff for the President’s office.

Mark Johnson.

Many folks at this university and beyond placed most, if not all, the blame regarding the failures of the school in April on former President Tom Jackson. The bodycam footage from police officers that were at the protest that night tells a different story. Johnson was the one floundering the school’s response to student activism. Johnson was the one directing police on behalf of the university. Johnson was the one who decided property value was worth more than the safety of students that night and in the days that followed. 

Over the summer, the chief of police of Eureka had to stand in front of Eureka City Council and hear how an independent investigation showed that there were no threats to students, or anyone else, from the protest. The report detailed how there was a complete lack of a plan from administration. The ineptitude of school leadership, spearheaded by Johnson, ended up endangering not only the students, but every emergency responder that night. 

But wait — Johnson is not only the Chief of Staff, he got a promotion over the summer to the tune of just under $250,000 a year. Johnson is the new interim Vice President for University Advancement. This promotion includes becoming the Executive Director of the Cal Poly Humboldt Foundation, which leaves Johnson in charge of a fund that reported over $50 million dollars in assets last year. It is insulting to every person on this campus that he put people’s lives at risk, showed his lack of planning and professionalism, and he was given more responsibility and power. 

Where is the same level of accountability for Johnson and every other university decision maker for their actions? Mitch Mitchell, our Dean of Students, called former Associated Students President Ethan Levering unfit to be a representative of our university. Our administrators need to look in the mirror and at their fellow administrators. They will find people like Johnson, who not only do not deserve to represent Cal Poly Humboldt, but should be as far away as possible from being in charge of the safety and well-being of anybody. 

Since the administration won’t do it, let’s judge Johnson’s performance by the value statement posted on the University Advancement’s page that he is supposed to uphold.

RESPONSIBILITY – Went on record saying that they did everything they could to deescalate the situation on campus. He followed this up by stating that the outcomes would have been the same no matter what the university did. 

INTEGRITY – Said that the vote of no confidence from the general faculty that was nearly unanimous was just an inter-family conflict.

TEAMWORK – Left faculty, staff, students, their parents and the community at large in the dark as the university coordinated to bring in hundreds of police officers to campus to stomp out the protest. 

QUALITY –  Bullied faculty members through email for their concern for students and the criticisms the faculty had regarding the university’s response. 

ENTHUSIASM – Regarded the makeshift graduation ceremonies as preferable to the larger ceremonies held at the university in the Redwood Bowl. This shift, caused by administration’s decision to close campus, led to many students to not be able to attend each other’s graduation ceremonies and families to not be able to set foot on the campus where their children spent years of their lives — as well as thousands of dollars — working to earn their degrees.

INITIATIVE – Became the de facto leader of the university in the absence of President Tom Jackson, resulting in irreparable damage to the community and the student body.

LEADERSHIP – Abused power that he should not have had in the first place to further his own agenda of prioritizing buildings over the lives of the students.

By these standards, Johnson should never be allowed on our campus again. Humboldt is no longer a place you should have the honor to represent, and the fact you are still employed is an embarrassment and disrespectful to all past and present members of the university. You do not hold the qualities needed to represent Humboldt. Your decisions have done nothing but amplify the community’s dislike for the school, and cause students to lose their pride in our institution. 

We know you do not have an ounce of humility and shame, because someone with the ability to feel such things would have resigned already. I now call upon the nearly 200 faculty members who agreed how incompetent you are at your job and the student body to not allow your transgressions to be swept aside. Do not allow this person to sully our home. Email the CSU chancellor’s office, email our new president, contact the California State Student Association, attend University Senate meetings. He will not go away willingly. We must use these channels to let those above him know that he cannot continue being a part of our campus community. Explain to them how much he has done to hurt the place we love.

I am electing for the shit-show Mark, and I will never forgive you nor forget what you have done. 

Jordan is a senior political science major and the president of the Politics Club. With a keen interest in current affairs and a passion for informed debate, Jordan brings a well-rounded perspective to their opinion column. Through their studies and leadership, Jordan is dedicated to exploring the complexities of political issues and fostering meaningful discussion.