By: Jennifer Ward, Arlenis Marmolejos, and Thomas Dachik
During the convocation ceremony held on Sept. 11, President Milagros Peña announced her retirement following the 2024-2025 academic year.
“After considerable reflection and discussion about what is best for me and my family, I informed Chancellor King over the summer that this 2024-2025 academic year will be my last year as President,” wrote Peña in a campus-wide email sent out after her announcement.
President Milagros Peña. (Photo via University of California, Riverside)
SUNY Chancellor John B. King said in a statement to the college, “Milly has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the liberal arts and arts that are at the heart of the campus’s mission, and to furthering the excellence and diversity of the student body.”
This comes after the end of the past spring semester, where a student-led pro-Palestine encampment was held which led to the arrest of over 70 students. Following this was a faculty vote of no confidence calling for Peña’s removal from office.
“I have mixed emotions about my decision to retire as president after the spring semester,” Peña wrote in the email. “Though we still face challenges as a community, we have accomplished a great deal together and our shared mission of providing access to a high quality, transformative public education is as important as ever.”
Peña failed to respond to The Phoenix’s inquiry for comment in a timely manner.
Some students called for Peña’s removal from office as well, predating the encampments. The Purchase Student Government Association (PSGA) is currently running a poll encouraging students to show support or opposition to the vote of no-confidence.
As mentioned in Faculty Presiding Officer Andrew Salomon’s campus-wide email announcing the no-confidence vote on June 3, there have been past incidents where faculty have found Peña to be non-compliant.
“We are relieved that our campus will be free from a President that has so clearly aligned herself against our community throughout her tenure,” the political group Raise the Consciousness (RTC) wrote in a statement to The Phoenix.
They continued, “Even before last year’s political movement on our campus, Milly has continually stifled our community’s attempts to make direct, material changes to better our campus and quality of life.”
According to the Purchase College website, shared governance ensures different bodies on campus come together to collaborate on policy development and decision-making on how the institution should be governed.
The PSGA President, Me’ilani Nelson, shared her ongoing challenges with Peña regarding shared governance. “I have experienced firsthand the frustration of not being heard by her,” Nelson said.
“I would have preferred for the school to have heard us and…fired her,” Nelson continued.
President Milagros Peña delivering the State of the College address following her statement for retirement. (Photo by Thomas Dachik)
Athar Abdul-Quader, associate professor and chair of the mathematics and computer science department, expressed optimism about the college’s future. “I believe that we will be able to start moving forward as a community now,” he said.
Abdul-Quader noted that while challenges remain on campus, he is confident in the college’s ability to overcome them with the “collective talent and creativity” among the students, staff, and faculty.
“I am so sorry to see President Peña retire at the end of this academic year, and will miss her support and leadership,” said Patricia Bice, vice president of student affairs and enrollment.
Salomon has expressed his past displeasure with Peña and her leadership.
“We had a lot of intense disagreements last May, but we always kept lines of communication open,” Salomon said.
He continued, “I think she has a lot to look back on and be proud in terms of her devotion to higher education.”
RTC stated that they urged King to appoint a new president for Purchase that aligns with the community’s moral and educational values.
“I think that this decision makes me feel more hopeful for the future,” Nelson said.
Peña wrote in the campus-wide email, “While there are challenges ahead, I feel confident that we have the flexibility, the skills, and the determination to continue to provide an excellent education for our students and to make progress as an institution that is continually evolving while safeguarding our community and living up to our values during this extraordinary time."
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