POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – A Vassar College trustee who had come under fire for her involvement in the infamous Central Park Five case 30 years ago has resigned.

Linda Fairstein, a prosecutor in the case, resigned Tuesday, Vassar College President Elizabeth Bradley said in a letter posted to the college's website.

The case involved five African American and Latino teenagers arrested in 1989 in connection with the rape of a jogger in New York. They were convicted for multiple charges, including assault, attempted murder and rape. All five were exonerated in 2002 after serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed he was the sole attacker.

Students had called for Fairstein to be removed from the board following the release Friday of "When They See Us," a four-part series on Netflix, that dramatizes the events before and after the headline-making trial. The series shows how detectives and prosecutors manipulated and coerced the young men into confessing. Fairstein observed the suspects' 1989 interrogation, conducted by another prosecutor and police. She didn't personally try the case.

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Mari Robles, an international studies junior at Vassar, published a petition Sunday morning calling for Fairstein's removal. As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, more than 13,000 people had signed the petition on change.org.

In her letter, Bradley said Fairstein "felt that, given the recent widespread debate over her role ... she believed that her continuing as a Board member would be harmful to Vassar."

Though she said she was happy with the outcome, Robles said some of her classmates were unhappy Vassar didn't take action.

“I think my initial reaction (to the resignation) was ‘mission accomplished.’ She’s off the board,” Robles said. “There were other students (who) expressed dissatisfaction that she resigned. But this is something we can have a greater discussion about.”

Vassar officials have declined to answer questions beyond Bradley's letter. Officials have not said if the school was aware of Fairstein's involvement in the case prior to this past weekend.

However, this was not the first time Fairstein was in the news because of it. An author who has written more than 20 crime and mystery novels, Fairstein was to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Mystery Writers of America last November. The organization rescinded the honor two days after announcing it amid concern from its membership.

Some online, including Santana, have also called for a boycott of her books.

Bradley previously had said the school would review the status of Fairstein's place on the board.

The president in her letter Tuesday said she has received "many emails and phone calls" reflecting "a broad range of views" regarding Fairstein.

"The events of the last few days have underscored how the history of racial and ethnic tensions in this country continue to deeply influence us today, and in ways that change over time," she wrote.

Fairstein, one of 34 members of the board of trustees, is a 1969 Vassar graduate. She served in the office of the New York County District Attorney office from 1972 until 2002, spending 26 years in charge of the sex crimes prosecution unit, according to Vassar's website. The school has not made clear how long she served as a trustee.

Some involved with Vassar have come to Fairstein's defense.

Gary Heavner, a 1987 Vassar graduate and prosecutor, expressed skepticism over the case itself, and whether Fairstein did anything wrong during it.

“To blame one person because they’re an easy target is lazy and improper,” Heavner said. “I haven’t seen enough proof to see (the Central Park Five) are guilty of rape. But I also haven’t see enough proof that Linda Fairstein did anything wrong. It should be the same standard."

After Reyes' admission, prosecutors stopped short of declaring the five men innocent but withdrew all charges. The legal clock had run out for charging Reyes, who was already serving life in prison on other convictions.

Since 2002, Fairstein has denied the teens were coerced and has defended authorities' conduct in the case. The city reached a roughly $41 million settlement with the five, while not admitting any wrongdoing.

Dennis Slade Jr., a 1991 graduate and co-chair of African American Alumnae/i of Vassar College, said in the organization's public Facebook group Monday that the college administration reached out to him and co-chair Tracy Elise Poole to gauge "'the temperature' of black alums." In the post he said the call to remove Fairstein has "been strong," and said he has communicated as much to the administration.

"It is important to note that Linda Fairstein has been a Trustee since at least 2010, if not earlier," Slade said. "Multiple alums (some super-liberal, some famous, some black) have served on the Board alongside her in this time and none of them, in my one year of being AAAVC co-chair, have approached me about Fairstein – or any other specific trustee, actually."

"When They See Us," is directed by Ava DuVernay, who has created such Oscar-nominated films as "Selma" and "13th," which have also explored racial injustice. The cast includes Niecy Nash, Michael K. Williams and Famke Janssen. Fairstein is portrayed by Felicity Huffman, who recently plead guilty to charges in a college admissions scandal.