SAN MARCOS — Dylan Davison singled out Palomar officials, a police investigation, and student safety concerns in their resignation as Pride Center Assistant.
Davison, who uses they/them pronouns, alleged that Palomar officials’ promised efforts to make them a full-time employee were not followed through. They also raised concerns about a police investigation involving sexually explicit messages sent to a minor at the Pride Center, saying student safety was not prioritized by faculty. Davison submitted their resignation on November 2024.
“I spent seven years of my life working at Palomar, through multiple medical issues,” Davison said. “I still tried to strengthen the Pride Center as much as I could with the hours that I was given.”
After holding a temporary part-time position for seven years, Davison resigned on several bases, including disagreements with current Pride Center Coordinator Benjamin Mudgett. Davison also held moral disagreements with alleged decisions made by Dean of Student Success, Equity and Counseling Services, Leslie Salas.
Davison said they worked off the clock on many occasions to ensure student awareness of the Pride Center. They said scheduling issues often prevented consistent representation.
“If I didn’t [work off the clock], then things would never get done,” Davison said.
Davison said the full-time position was prioritized for someone with a bachelor’s or master’s degree, which they didn’t have. With the help of the previous Pride Center Director, Abbie Cory, they wrote out and presented a full-time description tailored to Davison’s experience.
“I just kept getting told it was going to happen,” Davison said. “There seemed to be no rush for a full-time assistant position.”
In compliance with Fair Labor Practices, the District does not create positions for specific individuals, according to Palomar’s Human Resource Services (HR). HR also noted the Governing Board approved a full-time student support program coordinator position for the Pride Center on Nov. 12, 2024.
“I put so much work into the Pride Center. [President Star Rivera-Lacey] used to say that I was the face of it, the soul of it…but lately that just seemed to disappear,” Davison said. “There was just a level of disrespect, like, who am I?”
Davison said they remained at the Pride Center because of repeated faculty promises to create a full-time position. They had also built close relationships with students at the Center.
“I’ve known Dylan for six or seven years, and over the time, he’d become a close friend of mine,” Palomar student Alex Flores said. “I was just really hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”
TESTIMONY ON STUDENT CONCERNS
Davison reported that an underage student at the Pride Center received unsolicited explicit messages from another student. During the investigation, the accused student was asked to leave the space. Davison said Dean Leslie Salas overruled the decision, allowing the accused student in the Center, because no crime had been confirmed.
“I don’t think [Salas] meant anything by it,” Davison said. “I think she was being protective of the Center politically, which is part of her job, but it’d also just come off as very anti-#MeToo movement…it just made me extremely uncomfortable to do.”
When The Telescope requested records to verify the claims, the District declined, citing Public Records Act (PRA) exemptions. The District said the public interest in withholding the police records outweighed the interest in disclosure, referencing Times Mirror Co. v. Superior Court (1991) and City of San Diego v. Superior Court (1999).
The Telescope also requested a redacted version of the records to protect student identities. The district denied the request, citing City Council of City of Santa Monica v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (1962), stating the need to preserve official confidence outweighed the public’s interest in disclosure.
Students Alex Flores and Olivia Yates said they felt conflicted about Palomar faculty’s decisions on the investigation.
“I don’t think that the staff understood the severity of what was happening … There were very serious accusations … it felt like the older student got off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist,” Yates said.
A DIFFERENT DIRECTION
In addition to moral disagreements with Salas, Davison felt the Pride Center was taking a direction unsuited for student needs.
Salas requested that Davison submit detailed reports of the Pride Center’s daily activities. Davison disagreed with implementing a structured schedule, arguing that students would not benefit from plans created by those lacking direct experience with them.
“I had experience with students for seven years in the Pride Center. They had none between the two of them,” Davison said in regard to Salas and Pride Center Coordinator Benjamin Mudgett.
One of Mudgett’s changes included workshops at the Center, a move that was met with controversy.
“Students would come up to me and be like, ‘Dylan, this is making us uncomfortable, Dylan, we don’t like this. What’s happening,’” Davison said.
The workshops weren’t inherently bad, but shifted the Center’s focus from casual community-building to a more structured, educational environment, according to Davison.
Mudgett said he would like the Pride Center to be a location where students could receive service learning credit opportunities and explore leadership positions.
“We’re going to be able to have this synergy to really create dynamic opportunities and spaces for students to kind of swirl around and experience the various parts of their identities,” Mudgett said.
Additional plans include collaborating with a Pride Center counselor to support students’ holistic and academic needs. The District is also backing the construction of a new Pride Center in SU-17, which will be located near other student success programs like Umoja and the Dreamer Success Program, according to Mudgett.
However, students voiced concerns with the Center’s new management style. One of those students was Olivia Yates.
“Students … including me, have felt forced to participate in the workshops, even after we expressed that we didn’t really show an interest in participating,” Yates said.
Alex Flores said some recent faculty decisions at the Pride Center felt authoritarian. He also said Mudgett expects deference from students.
Yates and Flores mentioned an incident where Mudgett scolded them and other students for showing minimal interest in a workshop. Flores said several students felt shaken after Mudgett yelled at them.
“That kind of uncomfortable feeling you get when you have to go talk to a government official or a doctor or something, and you feel the need to straighten your back and be very proper. It kind of becomes like that,” Flores said.
The Telescope followed up with Mudgett regarding the claims made by students and Davison. Mudgett agreed to speak about the Pride Center’s general direction, but said questions about Davison’s resignation should be referred to Human Resources.
Davison expressed concerns for students on the autism spectrum, saying Mudgett lacked an understanding of how to engage with neurodivergent individuals. They expressed doubts for the trust and safety of these students in their resignation letter.
Davison also reported an incident in which they engaged in an argument with Mudgett about recent transitions in the Pride Center. Dylan said Mudgett called them lazy, which according to Dylan, was “both unwarranted and hurtful.”
Davison noted that this incident was reported to Dean Leslie Salas, but there was no action taken to address it.
In response to an HR records request about the incident, the District said the public interest did not outweigh the need to keep personal information confidential and protect the privacy of the reputations of those involved.
“I think [Mudgett is] a good person,” Yates said. “I think that if he, you know, started focusing more on getting to know the students, that people would like him.”
Mudgett said he sees opportunities for growth at the Pride Center. He envisions a structured learning environment that fosters authenticity, community and student leadership.
“The Center grew over the last seven years with Dylan there, and I want to recognize and acknowledge that … We are continuing to grow and expand the Center in ways that are meeting the needs of our entire LGBTQ community on campus,” Mudgett said.
The RP Group of the Middle Academy accepted Mudgett’s proposal for a learning community set to launch in 2026. The initiative aims to explore the intersectional identities of LGBTQ students and address equity gaps among Black and Hispanic students outlined in Palomar’s 2022-25 Student Equity Plan.
Mudgett said he wants to explore a Pride scholars program, which is still in early feasibility discussions. Plans include student leadership roles like front desk reception, social media, event planning and ambassadorship.
Mudgett thanked Dylan for their work at the Pride Center and recognizes that there are opportunities for improvement. He cited institutional research showing that only about 16 respondents, from the 19% of students who identify as LGBTQ+, regularly accessed the Pride Center.
“And those things are so incredibly important for our success as queer people. As a gay man myself, I have two kids, and I’m married. I would not be able to have that if I did not have my own chosen family and I wasn’t given the opportunity to thrive in spaces where I can live authentically,” Mudgett said.
A PREVIOUS CONTROVERSY
Besides Davison’s staffing concerns, they mentioned the Center’s direction seemed unclear to them as media coverage grew difficult.
An article released in March 2024 by Young America’s Foundation — “the leading organization for young conservatives,” according to its website — stated that Palomar’s Pride Center was affirming “students’ psychotic fallacies and aims to help them discover a state of so-called ‘gender euphoria.’”
The article states that a staff member from Palomar’s Pride Center spoke to Young America’s Foundation to corroborate the claims.
While no names or direct quotes linked the article to Palomar staff, Davison said they were later instructed to avoid speaking with the media without prior approval.
“I was like ‘this is ridiculous,'” Davison said. “I just felt like they thought I was going to do something so stupid, even though I had been [working in the center] for seven years.”
Davison said leaving Palomar wasn’t part of their original plan. They had hoped to stay through the end of the fall 2024 semester, but a job offer in Arizona led them to take a different path.
Davison said helping students motivated them as they struggled with multiple health concerns while working at Palomar, and they still have hopes for the Pride Center.
“I hope [Mudgett] knows that I love him. I think he’s a great guy,” Davison said. “I’m sorry that I hurt him. It was not personal. It’s just what I was told by the students.”
Davison extended appreciation for Palomar President Star Rivera-Lacey and others who supported them in their time at Palomar.
“I don’t want all my negative comments to think that Palomar is not a safe place for queer students. It 100% is, and this is all political in nature, and that’s unfortunate, but that’s just the way it goes,” Davison said.
Jase • Apr 29, 2025 at 9:43 pm
As a student that went to the pride center regularly before Dylan left , they made the place inviting and safe , but sadly when they resigned the environment became cold and uncomfortable. That lead me to stop going to the center .