Sonoma State University Professor Ajay Gehlawat was elected as Faculty Chair of the Academic Senate, the faculty’s governing body, which oversees curriculum, academic policies and faculty advancement. His election raises past concerns from 2021.
According to the SSU Senate website, nominations were received until Feb. 13 and the election was held from Feb. 14-21. Gehlawat was nominated by Napoleon Reyes, a professor and interim chair of criminology and criminal justice studies.
Gehlawat is a professor of interdisciplinary studies, theatre and film in the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies. As the newly elected chair of the Academic Senate for the 2025-26 academic year, Gehlawat will assist in shaping the academic policy at SSU.
Gehlawat said in his candidate statement, “As faculty we have power, including the power to mobilize our voices and use them to expedite slow and complex processes, especially when administration is trying to expedite the discontinuation of academic programs and, in the process, gut our university.”
His statement continued, “I offer leadership that will build consensus – but not to concede to the administration’s distorted perception of both the problem and the solution (namely, faculty and their elimination, piece by piece).”
Despite Gehlawat’s goal to improve the current state of SSU, his past allegations are being brought to light once again as he takes on a higher role within the school system.
In 2021, multiple female students started to come out making allegations against Gehlawat, which included sex-based discrimination and inappropriate course material. During that time, 10 female students in two of his classes transferred out within a few weeks due to an alleged “hostile environment” and repeated exposure to sexually violent content.
In a 2021 interview with The Press Democrat, one of Gehlawat’s former students, Clara George said, “Whenever I would try to speak up about the issues we were talking about in class… my opinion would be blatantly ignored, or he would speak over me to acknowledge a male in the class.”
According to the 2021 article in The Press Democrat, Clara George and Olyvia Schaefer were among other students who had taken Gehlawat’s course to file Title IX complaints with Sonoma State’s Office for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment.
The article further stated that two subcommittees proposed a resolution that allowed “sensitive content” to be removed from classes. While the resolution was initially endorsed, it was ultimately rejected due to concerns about confusing the classroom with a place to “treat PTSD.”
George started a petition calling for Gehlawat’s removal and updates to academic policies to protect students. The petition currently has 1,036 verified signatures, and after four years, SSU has not responded.
In an email sent to faculty on March 4, the SSU Academic Senate election results announced Ajay Gehlawat as the chair of the faculty for the 2025-26 academic school year. Gehlawat won with 52 percent of the vote.
The vice chair position went to Anastasia Tosouni, associate professor and internship coordinator of the criminology and criminal justice department. Wendy St. John, a professor in both biology and geography studies, was elected as secretary of the senate.
Gehlawat did not respond to a request for comment on his election or past allegations.
If you want to attend a faculty governance open meeting, email the Academic Senate Office at [email protected]. You can also look at the meeting schedules and get more information by visiting senate.sonoma.edu.
