Event
Leadership on the Line: Sparking Action for Equity in Higher Education
When
January 16th4:00-6:00 p.m. PST
Leadership on the Line: Sparking Action for Equity in Higher Education featured the recently appointed Chancellors of the California Community College and California State University (CSU) systems, Dr. Sonya Christian and Dr. Mildred Garcia, along with University of California (UC) President Dr. Michael V. Drake, for an intimate conversation on the importance of California’s public higher education systems, their efforts to close racial equity gaps, improve coordination and transfer between institutions, and strengthen the state’s economy and workforce.
Additionally, these leaders reacted to our much-anticipated report, Still Left Out: How Exclusion in California’s Colleges & Universities Continues to Hurt Our Values, Students and Democracy. Still Left Out re-examines the issue of racial/ethnic and gender representation in leadership across California’s public colleges and universities, undertaking a comprehensive review of system, district, and campus-level leadership, faculty, and academic senate bodies.
Welcome
Edward Bush, President of Cosumnes College, offered remarks to open the program, sharing the imperative of improving the representation of Latinx, Black, Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI), and American Indian/Alaska Native Californians in higher education leadership. Then, we heard from Mayra Lombera of the Michelson 20MM Foundation as she highlighted the role of philanthropic partners in supporting these efforts that advance college access and success for minoritized students.
Mayra Lombera
Chief Operating Officer, Michelson 20MM Foundation
Student Presentations
Three students shared their stories about the importance of finding representation in California higher education leadership and shared key findings from Still Left Out.
Casey Chang
Student Member, California Community College Board of Governors
Autumn Alaniz-Wiggins
Student Body President, California State University, Chico
Carlos Rodriguez
Student, University of California, Los Angeles
Panelist Discussion
Executive Vice President Jessie Ryan and President Michele Siqueiros engaged system leaders Dr. Michael V. Drake, Dr. Sonya Christian, and Dr. Mildred Garcia, to discuss how they are prioritizing representation across leadership and faculty at the University of California, California Community Colleges, and California State University. Leaders also discussed the disparities highlighted in the data and solutions to ensure that California higher education leadership truly reflects the rich diversity of our students and state.
Jessie Ryan
President
Michele Siqueiros
Senior Executive Advisor
Michael V. Drake, Ph.D.
President, University of California
Sonya Christian, Ph.D.
Chancellor, California Community Colleges
Mildred Garcia, Ph.D.
President
Closing Remarks
Thomas A. Saenz, Chair of our Board of Directors closed out this conversation with parting words about the impetus to advance racial/ethnic and gender equity in college leadership.
Thomas Saenz, J.D.
President & Senior Counsel, MALDEF