delfin bautista was removed as LGBT Center director Jan. 10. bautista (who uses they/them pronouns and doesn’t capitalize their name) will remain on paid administrative leave through June 30. Their annual salary as director was $72,746.

Ohio University abruptly removed the director of its LGBT Center last week, prompting questions from community members, university employees and students.

delfin bautista was removed as LGBT Center director on Jan. 10. bautista (who uses they/them pronouns and doesn’t capitalize their name) will remain on paid administrative leave through June 30. bautista's annual salary as director was $72,746.

"The University cannot comment on personnel matters, but it is important to note that this is not a decision that was made or communicated lightly," Carly Leatherwood, a university spokeswoman, said in a statement.

bautista, who was hired as the LGBT Center director in 2013, could not be reached for comment.

The removal left the LGBT Center without a full-time paid staff member for a week. On Thursday, the university announced Tyrone Carr, OU's assistant director to the vice president for diversity and inclusion, as the center's interim director.

Leatherwood said the university is hiring two additional full-time employees while also searching for a new full-time director.

Leatherwood said the university's vice president for diversity and inclusion, Gigi Secuban, decided to not renew bautista's contract to "advance (OU's) commitment to and support of the LGBTQ+ community."

Word of bautista's removal quickly spread and sparked some backlash among university and community members.

Carolyn Hunter, outreach coordinator at the LGBT Center and a senior studying ceramics, said the decision lacks transparency and puts the center in a difficult position.

She and some of the center's 11 other student employees met with Secuban on Wednesday to discuss the issue. Hunter said Secuban dodged questions and said the LGBT Center is moving in a new direction.

"The center was working fine before," Hunter said through tears. "Now we're moving backwards. We are very vulnerable and concerned."

Ohio University released a harassment and discrimination complaint that bautista filed against Secuban from September 2018. bautista wrote to the university's Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance on Sept. 25, 2018, with a concern that Secuban might be discriminating against bautista, who feared retaliation. bautista described feeling undermined and micromanaged by Secuban and being treated "like a child," and said there had been recent restrictions on purchases, schedules and media communications.

"The message that I feel is being sent is that Dr. Secuban will hire whom she wants and is trying to push me out," bautista said in the complaint.

The Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance responded to bautista's complaint, saying that although the experience is uncomfortable, Secuban's actions don't appear to be objectively discriminatory.

Evan Young, executive director of United Campus Ministry at Ohio University, said learning about bautista's removal was a shock. Young, who often worked closely with bautista, said one of bautista's greatest strengths was being a bridge from the campus to the community on racial-justice and LGBT issues.

Muriel Gallego, an associate professor of applied linguistics, said she was confused when she received a cancellation email from the LGBT Center about a scheduled visit by bautista to one of her classes. She and bautista had made the appointment just two days earlier, so when she got an automatic response saying bautista was no longer with the university, she assumed it was a glitch.

"This is a tremendous loss for the university and for me personally," Gallego said.

bautista hosted workshops for Gallego's teaching assistants, many of whom are native-Spanish speakers from other countries, on microaggressions and LGBT student inclusion.

"Because delfin is a Latino trans person, they were able to offer a different experience," Gallego said.

Referring to university officials, she said: "I don't know if they're going to be able to replicate that."

Gallego and Hunter expressed concern about the future of the LGBT Center. Phone calls to the center have been rerouted to the university's administrative office, and programming is uncertain, Hunter said.

Leatherwood said the university is maintaining normal operations of the LGBT Center and offering psychological and counseling services to help students through this transition.

"We are making sure our students' needs are being met during this time," Leatherwood said.

The university still employs bautista as an adjunct professor.

shendrix@dispatch.com

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