Coe College trustees chair brings new accusations against resigned member

CEDAR RAPIDS — A disagreement over diversity among Coe College trustees that started in the fall behind closed doors and bubbled out into the public has continued to boil, as campus leaders air new grievances including allegations of “vulgar, sexist, and threatening remarks” at the board.

In a letter submitted this week to The Gazette, Coe College Board of Trustees Chair Carson Veach raised those new allegations against former trustee Darryl Banks, who resigned in the fall after he said he was mistreated for raising diversity concerns in the campus’ search for a new president.

“He voluntarily resigned from the board, removing himself from the ability to impact change most effectively, and directly, at Coe College. He will not be asked to rejoin the board,” Veach wrote in response to a letter-to-the-editor from the Coe College Black Alumni Association.

That alumni letter — accusing the board of the private college of valuing money over character and demanding an “acceptable resolution with respect to Darryl Banks” — publicly identified for the first time the female trustee who Banks had clashed with in October as Kristin Strohm, a Coe alum based in Colorado.

Also on Coe’s 52-member Board of Trustees — which is 88 percent white and 79 percent male — is Strohm’s father, John Strohm, who serves as a “life trustee.” He serves as president of the Colorado-based grant-making Strohm-Link Family Foundation, according to the nonprofit’s most recent tax filings. The Strohm-Link foundation gave Coe $10,000 in 2019 and $81,750 in 2018 to “assist with ordinary operating expenses,” according to documents reviewed by The Gazette.

Veach in his letter called the Black Alumni Association’s decision to name Kristin Strohm “inappropriate,” especially because “none of the signers of the letter were present at the closed board meeting and don’t know all the facts.”

Disputed facts

The scenario that Veach laid out — and which Banks disputes — involved Kristin Strohm characterizing as a “baldfaced lie” Banks’ assertion that “voices of female members of the presidential search committee were ignored during the search process.”

“Banks did not respond directly to her statement at the time and did not address the board regarding this matter any further,” Veach said in his letter. “Rather, in conversations with other board members, and within earshot of others, Banks made vulgar, sexist, and threatening remarks regarding Strohm and her family.”

Banks — responding Tuesday to questions from The Gazette — denied those accusations, calling them a “defamation of character” and “shocking.”

“I have no idea of what he's talking about, there's certainly no substance to them,” Banks said. “Those are very serious and untruthful allegations.”

Veach in his letter also accused Banks and former trustee Alan Anderson — who also resigned in the fall in protest of Banks’ treatment — of “troubling” behavior after departing the board.

“The login credentials of Banks and Alan Anderson … were used to access a password-protected database of the Board of Trustees after the date of their resignations from the board,” Veach wrote. “This activity, in the aggregate, is damaging and diverts the board from the important work of supporting the delivery of the first-rate liberal arts experience our students richly deserve.”

Banks again said he has no idea what Veach was talking about. Anderson, in an email to The Gazette, said about the accusations Banks made vulgar comments that he “heard no such thing.”

“Certainly, this is the first time I’ve seen or heard any such allegation made against Darryl, and it would be completely out of character in my view,” he said. “The guy’s a Rhodes scholar and worked for years with students at Coe. I just don’t believe it.”

Anderson and Banks accused Veach of mischaracterizing Banks’ original concerns, which were related to “minorities and women of color not having their voices heard.”

In his letter, Veach said “immediately following” the contentious board meeting in October, Strohm offered to talk with Banks.

“But he never availed himself of this opportunity,” Veach said.

Because Banks said he was participating in that meeting in person and Strohm was participating virtually, she would have had to call him, Banks said. “I never got a call from her,” Banks said. “The only communication I got from her — this was three weeks later — was a note from her, saying her version of an apology.”

Veach in his letter said Strohm apologized only “for her sharp language.”

Veach and former President David McInally — who also recently wrote an op-ed criticizing the Black alumni letter — said they wish the matter had not gone public or turned into a larger policy issue.

McInally in his letter said continued outcry over the “personal disagreement” from October is impeding Coe’s ability to build on its “exceptional achievements” in diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I am disturbed by the fact that two disgruntled former trustees are attempting to make a policy issue out of what was essentially a personal disagreement, and in doing so may actually set back Coe’s progress on the very principles they claim to espouse,” McInally wrote in his letter published this week in The Gazette.

Tuesday meeting

Members of a concerned group of Coe community members — who met Tuesday to discuss an earlier list of demands presented after Banks’ resignation — said Banks’ experience and the board’s response brings to light larger issues that need addressing.

Harold Walehwa, an African American Studies student and vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion on Coe’s Student Senate, directly addressed McInally’s letter.

“This this goes deeper than just a disagreement,” he said. “When we're talking about DEI issues … equity and inclusion is the most important part.”

Students, faculty and staff spoke during Tuesday’s meeting about their experience on campus — including Celestte Orellana, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Student Senate.

“I didn't really understand that feeling of oppression as much until I got here,” she said. “Isn't that surprising for a lot of you to hear, that my oppression journey began at Coe College … I think especially I have felt this way in my conversations with the board.”

Veach’s letter listed several ways the college and board recently have advanced Coe’s diversity, equity and inclusion progress:

Representatives who met with that ad hoc committee spoke Tuesday about their worries over whether the trustee idea will ever get approved. The board is scheduled for a vote in May.

“The timing is sort of suggesting,” Coe Professor Anthony Kelley said. “They're going to consider the proposal and vote on it, conveniently, just when the campus is empty and everyone is gone for summer break. This, you know, raises some red flags.”

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com