A CSUMB professor who spent over two years on paid leave for problematic behavior returns.

CSU Monterey Bay Liberal Studies Professor Miguel Lopez was placed on paid administrative leave in early 2023, after students complained to the university’s Title IX Office that Lopez made inappropriate comments in an online class regarding race, gender and disabilities, as well as giving preferential treatment to some students based on race and gender. Over two years later, he’s back.

If there was an investigation, no results were disclosed to the public due to it being a personnel matter. According to a current student in one of the three classes he taught over the fall semester that ended Dec. 12, Lopez explained his absence by saying he took leave to care of his mother.

It didn’t take long for new complaints to arise. Some student concerns echo earlier allegations, including that Lopez showed favoritism toward Latina students. In the past he reportedly had a group he called his “comadres” that met separately outside of class and were given extra instruction and assignments not available to others.

A Latina student this fall reported that she felt “upset, uncomfortable and angry,” after he asked to meet with her privately, during which he told her if she met with him for extra help she could get an A in the class but she could not tell anyone, adding that he had “gotten in trouble for doing this kind of thing before,” according to a letter she wrote to administrators anonymously out of fear of retaliation. She declined his offer.

A group of students met with administrators in late November and were told that an administrator would be monitoring Lopez’s classes for the rest of the semester. A student says she and others have already switched out of Lopez’s spring semester classes in case he returns.

The Weekly was unable to reach Lopez for comment. A written statement from a CSUMB spokesperson said they “cannot share additional information about the status of his employment as this is a personnel matter.”