Linda Lacy went ahead and gave the official announcement about retiring July 2015, days after Cerritos College released a statement citing she had no such plans to do so.
“I planned to retire July 2015. And that’s still the plan.”
Los Cerritos News purportedly made it known that the Cerritos College president would step down by the end of next school year. However, the college sent out a response to such allegations.
“Dr. Lacy has not made an official announcement about any plans for retirement,” the statement read. “In the event that Dr. Lacy reaches a decision to retire, an official announcement will be provided to the campus and community.”
And we’ve reached that “event.”
Lacy notes that she had never denied the allegations brought forth by Los Cerritos News, but it released private information about her retirement prematurely.
“They (Los Cerritos News) printed stuff before it was supposed to even be released,” she said. “The plan was to release it to the campus and then it was going to released to the public.”
She continued, “We (Cerritos College staff) were trying to do it in a proper manner so the people I work with – the faculty, the staff, the students all had the first notice. That’s the proper way to do things … Sure, frustration is a term I would use. But, hey, what can you do?”
Lacy just completed her fifth year at Cerritos College as its president. Fast-forward to July 2015, that completes a six-year tenure for the president.
And it’s all about finishing the last year “strong.”
One thing that’s coming up this July is the accreditation report. With this, the college will see what the final report has to say about campus, with a one-year time frame given to eradicate any faults within the school.
“My no. 1 goal would be to address any deficiencies that the report might identify,” Lacy said.
Initiatives for student success and continuing the “momentum” and the “great progress” for platforms is also on the president’s mind.
Plus, July 16 marks the grand opening for the new Liberal Arts and DSPS building, where there will be a ribbon-cutting.
One year before her retirement, and the president still has a lot of work to do. And she’ll have early nostalgia-filled emotions throughout her final year as well.
“You kind of go down memory lane and focus on the accomplishments you’ve had,” Lacy said. “Any regrets? No … It’s been so rewarding. You can’t help but make a lot of great friends and relationships here. I’ll definitely miss people. You can’t not do that. You can’t spend six years with a group of people who you respect and appreciate and not expect to feel a sense of remorse.”
