Inauguration Spotlight: Keynote Speaker Mildred Garca
The higher-education advocate and President Adela de la Torre have walked similar paths and are aligned in values and vision.
“History has taught us that when untapped opportunity meets the right moment and the right leader, great possibilities emerge.”
The landmarks associated with San Diego State University President Adela de la Torre’s position in being both the first Latina and first permanent female SDSU president are mirrored in her selection of a keynote speaker for her April 11 inauguration.
In more than four decades in higher education, Mildred García has frequently broken glass ceilings and served as a cultural pioneer on her way to becoming president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), an advocacy group for more than 400 public colleges, universities and systems. Like de la Torre, García has experience both in teaching and administration, and she is known for a leadership style that emphasizes inclusion and diversity.
Among her other distinctions, García was the first Latina president in the California State University (CSU) system and, in her current role, the first Latina president of any of the six Washington, D.C.-based higher education associations.
García’s role in the inauguration ceremony, however, is as much a nod to the future as it is to the past. In their addresses at Viejas Arena, de la Torre and García will be looking into the faces of students who reflect the continuing diversity of the San Diego region, California and the nation that SDSU serves—places that will someday rely on them for a new generation of leadership.
“Dr. García has been my role model for many years,” de la Torre said. “As the first Latina president in the CSU system and one of the few Latina presidents in California, she has been a trailblazer for many of us who are now in these roles. Her commitment to social equity and access to higher education for all students is a fundamental value that I share.”
The right leader
García, as she prepared her remarks for the keynote address, said “History has taught us that when untapped opportunity meets the right moment and the right leader, great possibilities emerge. (De la Torre’s) Mexican-American cultural identity, her understanding of the new majority of today’s students, and her in-depth grasp of global issues will only enhance the trajectory of this great university to make the impact the community, the border region, the state, and the world needs right now."
García’s personal list of firsts starts early. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she was a first-generation college student, studying initially at New York City Community College and then at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business education.
García spent 10 years in faculty and administrative positions at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Her educational career also includes positions at Berkeley College, which has campuses in New York and New Jersey and where she served as its first system-wide president, three campuses of the CUNY system, Pennsylvania State University and Arizona State University.
She came to California in 2007 as president of CSU Dominguez Hills, located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County where it serves a predominantly Hispanic/Latino student population. Her achievements there included significant increases in enrollment, retention rates for first-time freshmen, and donor giving, as well as the elimination of a structural budget deficit.
A move to Fullerton
In 2012, García was appointed president of Cal State Fullerton, where she led the university’s first-ever long-term strategic plan. When she left in 2017, Fullerton had become the largest of CSU’s 23 campuses, with more than 40,400 students, and an operating budget of $426 million.
She left Fullerton in 2017 to become president of AASCU, where she already had been an active member. Long before her association with CSU, she participated in an AASCU program that prepares underrepresented individuals for careers as university leaders. In 1999, she was among the members of its first graduating class.
García serves on several local and national boards and in 2011 was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.
De la Torre’s investiture is set for Thursday, April 11, from 2–4 p.m. at Viejas Arena. There will be a campus and community celebration reception immediately following the event.
