April 20, 2018
President Fram Virjee
California State University, Fullerton
Dear President Virjee,
The request Clem made in terms of a remedy to his
(incredible!) firing was exceedingly modest. We enclose a
copy for your recall.
We believe that decency demands that he be given at
least a year’s salary and a year’s health benefits, which
might help him through this terrible time.
His dismissal amounted to a lethal blow to this family,
who had thought they were leaving the cold Maine winters to
return to Southern California to retire in about ten years.
Instead he is having to seek employment in far-flung places,
with the understanding that his wife and children will have to
remain here in the house they had purchased in Santa Ana
when they arrived. She is under UCLA’s medical care with
her recent liver transplant.
Are you aware that he was Library Dean at Colby
College for 14 (fourteen!) years? Colby is one of the three
Maine “Little Ivy Leagues” and a distinguished institution,
rated 12th liberal arts college nationally. His colleagues back
east are astounded (see letter to Fullerton Observer, April
16) as is the University Librarian at UC Irvine who has great
respect for Clem. All of us are keeping our eyes open for
possible job openings for him.
Looking for a job under the black cloud of having been
fired is a losing game none of us would ever want to play,
however.
For Cal State Fullerton, hiring honorable and talented
faculty will be equally difficult. The firing of Clem Guthro

 without warning or just cause has created an even blacker
cloud for the reputation of the University.
We write to you because you are the only one who can
fix this miscarriage of justice. If you review the evaluation
given him by the Provost the day he was fired and escorted
out by armed guards you will see that it is very thin. His
rebuttal to it, (ask Danielle to pull it from the file – we gave
you a copy of the entire record when we visited you) makes
it pretty clear what happened. LOFT goals were not being
implemented quickly enough to satisfy certain people,
although no one’s name is attached to the criticisms.
Guthro’s responses are very much to the point. His
termination was unjust, unwarranted and very unfair.
Legal, Yes. (Maybe.) Moral? Not at all.
We ask for your mercy and your help for Clem Guthro
and his family. Clearly, additional financial recompense
would not be inappropriate, but we know the amounts
requested were originally budgeted for this position and
should be made available to him.
Sincerely yours,
Ernest Toy
Founding Librarian
Emeritus
CSUF 1959-1983
Irvine

Beverly (Mrs. Ernest) Toy
Assoc. Univ. Librarian
Univ. of California,