Why Diversity and Equity Matter: Reflections from a Community College President

Why do the issues of diversity and equity have such resonance for me? As a first-generation immigrant, English-language learner from a working-class family, access to higher education and the opportunity that followed was the door to personal discovery and professional exploration, a door to a renewed hope that was counter to the generations of poverty and isolation that my family and my ancestors had endured, unselfishly, all for the chance that the next generation would be better off than the one before.
I am in my 30th year of service to public higher education and now find myself chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), a constellation of nine accredited colleges serving over 150,000 students each semester. In coming to Los Angeles, I feel like I am coming back home to San Francisco. The noise, the smells, the sounds, the whole urban vibe speaks to me and I am very comfortable in it. I know and possess urban sensibilities and they have served me well in my transition. My principal goal is to raise the educational attainment of our students while ensuring that our colleges, spread throughout this large district, represent the communities they serve.