Chancellor’s Suicide Leaves Several Questions Unanswered

CHANCELLOR’S SUICIDE LEAVES SEVERAL QUESTIONS UNANSWERED (HUSTLER MAGAZINE)

Note: This is one of the first freelance articles I ever wrote. I was sitting in the UC Santa Cruz press center, where I edited the school newspaper, when the phone rang. It was the news or features editor of Hustler magazine (!!), asking if I could write an article about the recent suicide of the school’s chancellor. In retrospect, I imagine he was looking for something very different. Also of note: I wanted desperately to show my parents a copy of the magazine with my byline in it, but made them promise to only open it to the page my article was on.

OCTOBER, 2006 — Months after University of California, Santa Cruz chancellor Denice Denton plunged to her death from the roof of a 43-story San Francisco apartment building, there are still more questions than answers.

Chancellor Denton, who had been the subject of high profile negative publicity over the past year, had been absent from several commencement ceremonies after requesting and receiving medical leave from the university June 15, though no specific reason for her leave could be confirmed. Denton’s mother, Carolyn Mabee, who was staying in the apartment building at the time of Denton’s apparent suicide, told reporters that Denton was “very depressed” about her personal and professional life at the time of her death. Denton’s partner, Gretchen Kalonji, owns a residence in the same apartment complex.

Many have speculated that Denton was deeply upset by the amount of criticism she received during her 16-month tenure at UCSC, which included the controversial hiring of Kalonji to a high-paying position within the UC system, as well as her own role in last winter’s UC compensation scandal.

Denton was criticized by UC unions and students alike for requesting several renovations to her university-provided home, which totaled $600,000, including a $30,000 enclosed fence for her dog. This spring, UC President Robert Dynes vowed to tighten up restrictions on executive pay perks and renovations.

“No one can ever know to what extent individuals might internalize criticism,” Elizabeth Irwin, campus spokesperson, said via e-mail. “I have observed Chancellor Denton accept direct and sometimes very rude and personalized criticism, and she always listened calmly and with respect… It appears that some people in our society believe any manner of personalized insult, whether based in truth or not, can be leveled against public figures, apparently forgetting that they are human beings with feelings.”

Bill Ladusaw, dean of undergraduate education at UCSC, refuted the notion that the 46-year-old Denton had been worn down by the pressure and scrutiny she faced in her position as Chancellor.

“I don’t think she took [the criticism] to heart,” Ladusaw said. “She would say, ‘You have to remember that it’s not about you.’ Certainly, she was not naive in this area. She had a good idea of what being a Chancellor was like in principle.”

Denton had suffered from various health problems in the past year, including being treated for a benign cyst last November and an acute thyroid condition in February, according to Irwin.

Denton’s memorial service drew over 1,000 students, faculty and community members. Speakers including Kalonji, UC President Robert Dynes and UCSC Professor of Feminist Studies Angela Davis. Davis, a well-known radical of the 1960s, recalled Denton’s career from her work at MIT to her appointment as Dean of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington, where she became the first female to hold such a position at an American research university, to her brief tenure as Chancellor at UCSC.

Denton also gained national attention after challenging Harvard President Lawrence Summers’ assertion that women are genetically less inclined toward the sciences.

Speakers at the memorial recalled a life of accomplishment and challenges overcome, a departure from the recent national attention paid to the cloudy circumstances of Denton’s death.

“You look at the coverage [of Denton’s death] on the East coast, and it’s depressing to see that her life has been reduced to two sentences, one of which is ’embattled lesbian chancellor,’” Ladusaw said. “Part of the grief stage is anger. [Denton’s death] should not become the epitaph on her life.”

Alessandro Tinonga, a fourth-year film student and member of the Students Against War activist group at UCSC, attended the memorial to pay tribute to Denton’s memory.

“I think every student-activist is committed to bringing about a world where people can lead a more wholesome life and not be judged,” Tinonga said. “There was a lot of disagreement directed against [Denton’s] policies, but throughout her life she always had a strong history of fighting for diversity, and inclusion of women and people in the LGBTI community. It came from someone who went through a lot of strife and conflict in her life.”

Stephanie Milton, program coordinator at the American Indian Resource Center at UCSC, met Chancellor Denton twice during the two months she had been working on campus. Milton bemoaned the fact that Denton would not be able to see her vision of diversity at UCSC fully acted out.

“It’s a shame that we’re never going to know what more could have happened,” Milton said.

The UC Office of the President has appointed UCSC professor of astrophysics George Blumenthal as the interim chancellor until a full-time chancellor is hired, a process that may take over a year.

In the meantime, university officials are trying hard to turn the page on this bizarre and mysterious event. “Chancellor Denton’s death was very likely not just about us and our community,” Ladusaw said.