LGBTQ+ groups at California State University, Bakersfield call on the university and the athletics department regarding their values of diversity and inclusion. This comes after a statement released by the university about a viral video of a physical altercation with a CSUB-affiliated individual.
A now-viral video published on Instagram Friday, Nov. 10 shows a physical altercation between a couple in their car and an individual who has been identified by the university as Mike Duncan. The video details that the altercation took place Tuesday, Nov. 7 and shows Duncan accosting the couple before asking them to come out and fight, throwing a punch at the driver of the car. According to Lourd Asprec, the creator of the video, Duncan and two other men were using homophobic language towards the couple. At the end of the video, Asprec provides a screenshot of a now-deleted page from the CSUB Athletics website, showing that Duncan was listed as the Director of Program Development for the CSUB baseball program.
The official CSUB Instagram account made a statement on the matter two days after the video was posted, identifying Duncan but stating that he was “inaccurately identified as an employee of CSUB.” According to the statement, Duncan served the baseball program in an unpaid, advisory capacity for a short time in early Spring 2023.
The CSUB Instagram statement also included a message from Kyle Conder, the CSUB director of athletics, which read, “I was not present for the incident captured on social media. I do not use hateful or ignorant language. I have never acted violently and I do not condone violent actions. The actions depicted in the video shared on social media are not a reflection of CSUB Athletics. Moreover, they do not represent my personal character or values.”
During the Nov. 17 Associated Student Inc. meeting, CSUB President Lynnette Zelezny said she immediately alerted Title IX Coordinator Marcus Brown of the video. Zelezny also released a statement via email on Nov. 17, which read, “CSUB has seen recent acts of violence virtually, both regionally and worldwide. Please know that CSUB strongly condemns violence… As a university, one of our core values is to ‘embrace, celebrate, and educate issues related to diversity,’” and provided a resource for both staff and students.
There have not been any further campus-wide email statements from CSUB administration addressing the altercation as of Nov. 17.
Some students, faculty, and staff at CSUB have since voiced their concerns about the university’s response to the altercation. Daisy Alamillo, ASI president and CEO, and Ignasio Castillo, ASI executive vice president spoke at the student government meeting to show support for students and address the university’s statement.
Castillo, who previously served as the LGBTQ+ Student Network president, was made aware of the altercation through social media.
“Having seen how much the university prides itself on equity, inclusion, and belonging, and in making this campus a home, I was very watchful on what the university was going to do because, at this point, everyone was watching,” said Castillo.
Castillo said that he thinks students have been affected by what he describes as a “lack of communication” from the university.
“We [students] don’t deserve just a vague and very brief email that the president gave… about some campus resources, which is not what we were looking for,” said Castillo. “What we are expecting is a very thorough discussion about what happened, what the aftermath of the situation is, and how does the campus reaffirm its values and its missions towards helping our students, and we never got that.”
Members of the university’s LGBTQ+ PRIDE Faculty and Staff Affinity Group made a statement on Nov. 16. It was signed by the group’s co-chairs Aubrey Kemp and Jeremiah Sataraka, previous co-chairs Kris Grappendorf and Bre-Evans Santiago, and student network’s Faculty Advisor Vanessa Zepeda.
In the statement, the members denounce Duncan’s actions and demand answers to the extent of his volunteer status.
They also expressed their support for the LGBTQ+ community at CSUB and called for improvement to the hiring and training processes of employees and volunteers.
“We feel the statement by CSUB is not sufficient for meeting our needs of support in response to this homophobic event. Releasing a statement denying the experiences of our community and minimizing the effect this has on our campus is not acceptable,” wrote the affinity group members.
According to the affinity group members’ statement, the university did not reach out to them nor to the student network before crafting their statement. Both groups scheduled a healing circle for Nov. 20 to express thoughts and connect with the university’s 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Castillo said he thinks Zelezny and CSUB administrators should reach out to organizations and host an event or discussion regarding the issue.
“I will really like for her [Zelezny] to question what her legacy going to be on campus,” said Castillo. “Do you want your last month to be reflected on someone who took action on a situation and took care of it and reconnected her students, or someone who didn’t care in the end, and walked away from a position with the campus deeply hurt from the situation.”

We will provide updates as the situation develops.