Rockland Community College president reportedly fired

Rockland Community College President Lester Edgardo Sandres Rápalo has been fired after less than a year on the job and a tenure marked by layoffs and clashes with faculty, lohud.com reported. He joined Rockland last July.

Rápalo did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed made via LinkedIn. A spokesperson for Rockland said the university will “issue a statement within the next 24–48 hours.”

Though the reason for his departure was not immediately clear, faculty members had called for Rápalo’s resignation in April. They also previously voted no confidence in him over layoffs earlier this year, lohud reported.

Like many colleges across the U.S., Rockland has struggled financially and is reportedly facing a $4 million deficit. Rápalo had sought to address the deficit via cost-cutting measures including layoffs but faced criticism for hiring new administrators to fix the college’s financial problems amid faculty furloughs.

Rockland is part of the State University of New York system.