Graduation protest: Cal Poly students refusing handshake with President Armstrong

About 4800 seniors will graduate from Cal Poly this weekend, and a small group of soon-to-be alumni is hoping to make a statement during all the pomp and circumstance.

Students say Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong sweeps things under the rug, so it was time to get personal.

On Saturday, graduating senior Kristen Whalen, will walk across the commencement stage and receive her diploma but the traditional pageantry will end there.

“As a student graduating, the ceremony is supposed to be about us. I don’t think we are responsible for cradling President Armstrong’s ego and I think this is a good way to send him a message that we don’t support what he’s doing,” said Whalen.

So far, Whalen is one of about 100 students planning to refuse a handshake from President Armstrong at this weekend’s ceremony.

“Thereof been a lot of issues on Cal Poly campus my entire time that I’ve been here but this year especially has been bad,” said Whalen.

The San Luis Obispo campus has seen some massive heated protests this year after the Lambda Chi blackface scandal.

Student activists say they have been calling on Armstrong to resign for a long time.

“Due to his negligence and in-action regarding racism, sexism, student homelessness, food insecurity,” said Kelsey Zazanis, a Cal Poly Junior.

Zazanis says under Armstrong’s Administration, student fees have increased 60%, and student housing is expected to rise 40% next year, directly impacting homeless and food insecure students. She also points to a sexual assault epidemic on campus.

Graduating seniors say they don’t want to be disruptive, but they also want to send a message.

“He consistently denies student pain and suffering and denies the culture of racism on this campus,” said Zazanis.

The University is aware of the planned protest and says while they are disappointed, they support students’ right to protest and have their voices heard.

“We hope that through this action President Armstrong understands the seriousness of this request that he resign because students have lost hope. President Armstrong has lost the moral authority to lead this university,” said Zazanis.

Cal Poly released a statement regarding the handshake protest:

The university is aware of that announced protest activity. Of course, it is disappointing to hear there may be some students who choose not to shake President Armstrong’s hand during commencement, but we support our students’ right to protest and have their voices heard. Their call for increased diversity at Cal Poly is shared passionately by President Armstrong and the entire administration — this has been and will continue to be a priority. In fact, shortly after his hire, President Armstrong stated that increasing the diversity of campus was among his most important goals and that the student body of the university needed to more closely reflect the demographics of the state of California. While making these changes takes time, progress has been made — today Cal Poly is more ethnically diverse than it has been at any time in its history (currently just over half of the student body are Caucasian). In addition, applications from under-represented minority students doubled between 2008 and 2018, while overall applications increased by half that much. The university also created an Office of University Diversity and Inclusion and a vice president-level position to lead the office.

Administration has further put in place a comprehensive Diversity Initiatives Plan to guide its efforts and create a more inclusive and supportive campus culture, attract more diverse faculty and staff and inject diversity education into all facets of the university’s polytechnic curriculum. And yet we know there is still much work to be done. Shifting the demographics and culture of the university’s campus does not happen overnight. That work began years ago and it continues, but it is most effectively accomplished by listening to the voices of our campus community and working together to make meaningful, lasting change.