Cerritos College President Linda Lacy woke up on the morning of Tuesday, June 30 at 4:30 a.m., did her workout and fed her two dogs Runt, an Australian shepard and Sadie, a black lab as well as her two cats Sassy and Willie.
After her morning routine, she’s on the road to the 91 freeway.
“I got in my car and thought, ‘wow this is the last time I’ll be driving the 91 freeway,’” Lacy said.
She added, “Of course it was bumper-to-bumper, so I’m not going to miss that.”
While this may seem like an average routine, it is different from every other day in that it is Lacy’s last day as president of Cerritos College.
“It was kind of bittersweet because you make a lot of good, close relationships and you won’t be seeing those people as often, but then there’s that happy side, ‘oh I don’t have to get up at 4:30 [a.m.] tomorrow,” Lacy said.
According to Lacy, her day has been an easy one. She has been moving her computer files to her personal computer, having lunch with colleagues and meeting with Human Resources to do the ‘turn-in-the-key’ type stuff.
Lacy said that even though she is leaving, she plans to visit whenever she can.
She had dinner with Joy Brown, a switchboard operator in communications, the day before.
Brown said, fighting back tears, “It’s really sad [that she’s leaving] and it makes me get a lump in my throat. She’s such a really wonderful lady.”
She added that Cerritos College was lucky to have someone who really cared like Linda Lacy.
Lacy is proud of her years here at Cerritos including her work in implementing programs to improve student success.
“We’ve removed a lot barriers from students and established what it means to be a successful student and things like our construction projects,” she said.
Lacy hopes that these types of programs and successes can be carried over after she is gone.
Her fondest memories are those with the Hall of Fame.
“Watching people recognized for the service they did for the college and seeing their face when they’re reunited with someone they might not have seen for a while. I think that’s a great moment in my life,” Lacy said.
She also talked about the days that weren’t so good.
“You expect, when you’re sitting in this office, to have criticisms and if you don’t you need to toughen up,” Lacy said.
She is referring to an incident with Hews Media Group and another incident where a parent stood protest in front of her office.
“The worst thing you can do with email and text is to respond, so I didn’t. I defended a faculty member one time and that was because it wasn’t my defense and more about getting your facts straight,” she said.
She leaves advice for her successor, Dr. Jose Fierro.
“He’ll have that honeymoon period…but to really face things head on, at the end of the day your integrity is the most important thing. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself is ‘what is the best decision for the students?’”
