MADERA, Calif. — Madera College faculty walked off the job and called out sick from work last week to protest the return of an administrator who was placed on leave after he allegedly dressed up as a former faculty leader for a Halloween costume contest last fall.
Cory Burkarth, the director of marketing and communications, is back on campus this semester after he was placed on a leave of absence Nov. 5, according to a temporary assignment report from the community college district. He returned to work in late July.
Last year, photos circulated online show Burkarth dressed in a costume that closely resembled the appearance of Todd Kandarian, a math instructor and former president of the Academic Senate at the college. Burkarth entered the campus Halloween costume contest during a party with staff and administrators. Other photos depict administrators as judges of the contest, and another photo suggests Burkarth won a gift basket as he stands next to Merced College President Ángel Reyna.
The costume featured a bald cap, blue button-down shirt, and padding that enlarged the torso. In an interview last fall, Kandarian said he was shocked and surprised by the costume and the photos. Days later, he filed a complaint against Burkarth and the other administrators who judged the contest.
In the fall, a district spokesperson said the incident was under investigation, but did not offer any other comment.
Now that Burkarth is back on campus, another district spokesperson declined to answer questions from KVPR. Instead, the spokesperson sent a statement on Wednesday that said the college district does not discuss personnel matters, following California law.
Burkarth declined to comment for this story.
After Burkarth appeared at campuswide meetings last week, faculty who spoke to KVPR said they called out sick last week in response.
Kate Husain, the academic senate president, and math professor Lynette Cortes Howden said more than 20 tenured faculty walked out last week in protest. They viewed Burkarth’s return as a “safety issue.”
“We were extremely uncomfortable,” Cortes Howden said. “We were supposed to receive a training on equity and fairness…At least for myself personally, it literally made me sick to my stomach. It affected my health. I don't see how I could have sat through that with Cory [Burkarth] in the front row and that not being acknowledged.”
Neither Burkarth nor Kandarian responded publicly to questions surrounding the findings of the investigation from the complaints filed by Kandarian in November.
Kandarian appealed the administrative determination of the investigation. The State Center Community College Board of Trustees will consider the appeal at its September board meeting.
Faculty say they feel blindsided
According to Husain and Cortes Howden, the number of faculty who called out sick last week accounted for about half of the college’s tenured faculty. The move was largely due to little acknowledgement of Burkarth’s return, as well as little communication about the investigation that took place after the incident.
Husain stressed context and consent when looking back at the October incident. She pointed to tension between faculty and administrators that has gone on for years, including a 2024 vote of “no confidence” in Reyna, the college’s leader.
“It can be easy to brush off, like maybe you can't take a joke, or lighten up,” Husain said. “These are not friends. Todd Kandarian and Cory Burkarth are not people that know each other outside of work. They're just professional at work, as we're supposed to be. I think that's huge.”
Documents obtained by KVPR show Husain emailed Reyna to express her concerns about Burkarth’s return. Reyna responded, saying he would not discuss the matter in order to protect employee privacy.
But Reyna did reiterate a message from an earlier email to staff.
“I remain committed to strengthening our working relationship and to a productive collegial participatory governance process,” Reyna wrote.
Husain and Cortes Howden are back on campus as classes started this week, and they said they don’t believe other faculty will call out sick when classes start. But, they said they hope campus administrators acknowledge what happened, even though they think it’s a “pipe dream.”
“That's sending a big message that these kinds of actions are allowed from administration,” Cortes Howden said about Burkarth’s presence at the campus meetings. “We are not being respected, just in terms of our humanity. It's just too much.”
