Lane Community College board members discriminated against President Stephanie Bulger on the basis of race and gender, according to findings in a recently unearthed investigative report.

The report paints a damning picture of a board chair who allegedly steamrolled the president—a Black woman—in conversations, dismissed answers from female staff members and sought out their male counterparts instead, and physically intimidated a student outside a meeting. Former board chair Zach Mulholland, who served in that role during the 2024–25 academic year, has acknowledged some mistakes but also alleged errors and omissions in the report.

The report was first obtained and published by local news organization Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

The Findings

The report, conducted by a third-party law firm, focused on four complaints submitted in March and April; one from then–Vice Chair Kevin Alltucker, one from a student whose name was redacted and two anonymous complaints. The report doesn’t make clear how all the complaints were submitted, but it substantiated three of the four, which were based on how the board, mainly Mulholland, treated the president and a student.

However, Bulger also told investigators that she had concerns about Austin Fölnagy, who was board chair at the Oregon institution during the 2023–24 academic year and resumed that role in July. She complained about discriminatory conduct by Fölnagy, who she said would only speak to men on her team.

LCC’s Board of Education is comprised of seven elected members and an ex officio student representative. Six current or former members were interviewed for the report, including Mulholland and Fölnagy, as were Bulger, the anonymous student and the board secretary.

Report findings show a deteriorating relationship between Bulger and Mulholland, with alleged blowups mostly happening in closed-door agenda-setting meetings. Witnesses described Mulholland as someone with a short temper who was “authoritative and demanding” and became increasingly hostile in his interactions with the president, cutting her off and treating her in ways that one board member described as an example of systemic and structural racism. Bulger described his attitude as “you can work for me, but you better do exactly what I tell you.”

Several witnesses suggested Bulger would not have been treated the same way if she were a white man, a sentiment the president echoed in her interview excerpts included in the report.

Both Mulholland and Fölnagy disputed that notion in their own interviews.

Mulholland has argued that as board chair he was trying to push conversations forward and “does not believe it is his place to acknowledge President/staff responses or to solicit the President’s opinion during the Board meeting,” according to his interview with investigators.

In interview excerpts, Mulholland denied that he verbally abused Bulger, saying his “frustrations were reasonable and valid” and that he merely argued passionately and does not consider profanity inappropriate in private meetings. Mulholland also told investigators that around the time of complaints he was dealing with personal issues that affected his emotional regulation.

He also said he no longer believed Bulger was the right person for the job.

While Mulholland disputed allegations he mistreated the president and female employees, he largely agreed with the characterization that he intimidated a female student who accused him of standing “uncomfortably close” to her—one or two feet away and leaning in—and speaking to her in a hostile and aggressive tone while he was on a break from a heated board meeting in April. The student described his tone as “overwhelmingly aggressive, unprofessional and intimidating.”

Mulholland told investigators he was embarrassed and wished to apologize to the student.

The Responses

Lane Community College has deferred comment on the report to the board.

“The matter is currently in the purview of the board, and the college respects the governance role of the elected board,” a spokesperson wrote.

Mulholland has largely downplayed the report since it came out publicly.

“From my perspective, I was defending the role and authority of the publicly elected Board of Education. There are errors and omissions in the report I hope to correct during an upcoming Executive Session of the Board,” Mulholland wrote in an emailed statement to Inside Higher Ed.

He added that he recognized he “made some mistakes” and has begun to send apologies.

Mulholland also shared his response to the local NAACP chapter, which called on him to resign. In that response, Mulholland alleged that “errors and missing context in the report render it an incomplete and inaccurate accounting of events,” which he said he would address at a future board meeting. He also called for antibias training for all LCC board members in his response.

“Respectfully, I will not be tendering my resignation at this time,” Mulholland wrote.

Fölnagy, who is once again chair, declined to comment on the report on behalf of the board but told Inside Higher Ed that members are “actively considering available options and determining the necessary next steps” and consulting with the college’s legal counsel as they address concerns.

“We are committed to ensuring a comprehensive and diligent approach as we move forward. As the newly elected Chair, I am deeply committed to doing everything possible to ensure that the Board works actively to open pathways of communication,” he wrote by email. “My goal is for the Board and the administration to collaborate effectively and respectfully for the success of our students, the college, and the broader community. There is indeed a lot of important work ahead, and I look forward to dedicating my efforts to these vital initiatives for our students.”

LCC’s next board meeting is an executive session scheduled for Sept. 2, which will be followed by a regular board meeting the next day. Should the board decide to take action against members named in the report, the highest level of punishment available to them is censure. Removal would require a recall election.