A month into demotion, students attest, Judith is still the Math Lab
A cohort of concerned students addressed the Santa Monica College (SMC) Board of Trustees at their April meeting to defend Judith Eckstein, former Math Lab tutoring coordinator, and advocate for her reinstatement. The college’s administration demoted Eckstein last month and she has not resumed working on campus since, though she is expected to return to the Lab as a Math Instructional Tutor.
Eckstein’s demotion occurred a little over a week after the school imposed a ban on all food products in the Math Lab. The Lab relocated from the Pearl Annex and opened in the school’s new Math and Science Building at the start of the spring semester. Prior to the ban, Eckstein and other math department personnel personally provided free food and meals to Lab students for years, along with consistent snack shipments from SMC’s Bodega.
“I don’t have to spend this much money of my own money to feed kids, but I do it because I think it reminds me of myself,” Eckstein said to the Corsair.
Academic Affairs dean Sasha King communicated the ban to Eckstein over email on Feb. 24. The next day, at a Facilities Planning Subcommittee meeting, Eckstein said “I hate you!” to King, and subsequently told students she felt her job was at risk.
Representatives from Human Resources, accompanied by SMC police officers, approached Eckstein in the Lab on March 5 and installed her demotion.
Students who frequented and/or worked in the Math Lab quickly banded together to resist the no-food policy and the demotion. This group notably enveloped students both mathematically inclined and disinclined. They collected over 200 signatures on a pro-food petition, prepared statements defending Eckstein to send to senior staffers, and produced and distributed merchandise for their cause, including “Bring Back Judith” lapel pins.
At this Board meeting on April 1, three students, Mark Dorji, Samuel Shaffer and Eve Sheldon spoke to the Board during Public Comments. During this segment of all Board of Trustees meetings, any member of the public can speak to the college’s highest governing body on any issue of their choosing for three minutes; however, the opportunity is rarely utilized by students.
That night, all seven trustees were present, along with the college’s superintendent and president, Dr. Kathryn Jeffery.
Shortly after Eckstein’s demotion, Dorji authored a document spread around the Math Lab titled “In Defense of Math Tutoring Coordinator Judith Eckstein,” urging students to resist the demotion by contacting SMC’s senior administration with “thoughtful, impassioned email(s).” Dorji emphasized using personal stories and details while communicating with upper-level administrators who haven’t engaged with Eckstein themselves. He also encouraged students to use anecdotes while addressing the Board of Trustees directly at their meetings.
“I’m terrible at math,” he said to the Board. “I’m just really bad at it, you know? And I came into the Santa Monica Tutoring Center, and Judith caught me.”
“I noticed that she does this a lot. She finds students, she funnels them into the right services, and she catches people,” Dorji said. “I don’t know how many members of the community and how many students she’s done that for. But, I’ve been on this earth for some time, and there are very few people I know that are the same level of altruistic in my time as Judith Eckstein.”
Samuel Shaffer, a data science major, spoke after Dorji. “I’ve been here for, like, a long time,” said Shaffer, who studied at SMC pre-COVID and returned afterwards.
“I would also like to comment on Judith Eckstein, the Math Lab tutoring coordinator, as a student who has consistently sat in the Math Lab to study … Many students, including myself, have trouble studying at home,” said Shaffer, who also implored the Board to reopen the school library on weekends as an additional study center.
Shaffer said, “I can testify that she’s a person of high character who’s always thinking of how to best serve her students. She’s gone above and beyond her job description to aid our STEM students. I sincerely hope she remains a part of this SMC community.”
Finally, second-year mechanical engineering major Eve Sheldon took her three minutes before the Board. Sheldon is a Math Lab clerk who attested she found her entire sense of SMC community through the Lab, where Eckstein had reportedly worked for 16 years.
“I take my job very seriously because I really care about the Math Lab. It’s where my community is, where I’ve met all my friends, and I spend all my time there,” Sheldon said. “I can speak on endless statements from my fellow peers that have stories about how Judith has changed their lives, and helped them through their treacherous journeys through highly stressful courses.”
“Judith is the Math Lab, and I really want to emphasize that,” said Sheldon.
She said, “She’s been working there for over 16 years. She has been the main figure of that Math Lab for those 16 years. The Math Lab is something that has grown around her, and her other passion for the students at SMC who seek help with mathematics.”
Sheldon added she doesn’t believe the job could be done right by anybody else.
On April 2, Student Instructional Support Associate Dean Wendi DeMorst informed Math Lab student employees via email that Eckstein is to return to the Math Lab as an instructional tutor. DeMorst added that Donatas Bukauskas, a math instructional assistant, will serve as interim coordinator while a new one is selected, and that light snacks will now be permitted in the Lab in a designated area, as long as proper clean-up is enforced.
DeMorst and Bukauskas did not respond to the Corsair’s request for comment.
“I fully understand and respect her decision if she decides not to return to work at SMC,” Sheldon said to the Corsair after her comments. “I just hope me and my peers’ message was able to have some influence on the board and how they go about this situation.”