By Heather Posey
Staff Writer
As California State University, Dominguez Hills wraps up the first half of its academic year, the administration at the Carson institution gets ready for the changes planned for 2008. Their new year’s resolution is to make CSU Dominguez Hills an esteemed brand known not only in the CSU system but nationwide. And the leader of this mission is the university’s newest president, Dr. Mildred GarcÃa.
Garcia was introduced to the media at an informal breakfast last week where she announced her plans to take CSU Dominguez Hills from one of 23 Cal State Universities into a league of its own.
“I really wanted the opportunity to meet all of you and tell you why I think this is the best CSU campus in the system,” addressed GarcÃa to the crowd. “I wanted to talk about why I’m here, where I’m taking this university and how we are the institution of the South Bay.”
Signing on as university president last August, GarcÃa is the seventh president of the urban college, named among the most ethnically and culturally diverse in the nation.
With a commitment to strengthen through self-development and multicultural alliances, she stated her wish to develop a close relationship with the students, the community, and the media as a way to better the university and the people within it.
“I wanted to give [everyone] a feel of what this university is all about. We are very proud of this university and feel that we have a lot to offer,” said GarcÃa. “We have great students, a great facility and we just want to spread the word.”
Garcia’s background includes a doctorate in education and a master of arts in higher education administration from Teachers College at Columbia University. She also has an M.A. in business education/higher education from New York University, a B.S. in business education and an A.A.S. in legal secretarial sciences in business from City University of New York.
With more than 30 years of teaching and administrative experience, she has held positions at Berkeley College in New York and New Jersey and also at Arizona State University and the City University of New York. Named one of the top 100 Most Influential Hispanics, GarcÃa is the 11th female to ever serve as president in the entire CSU system and the first Latina.
