Over the last month, the Cerritos College Board of Trustees has made some changes.

Former board clerk Zurich Lewis was named president of the board, after being nominated by Carmen Avalos.

The move comes just two weeks after his mentor Bob Arthur served in his last board meeting.

“Arthur was one of my mentors for sure. He was one of the first people to go out and walk a precinct with me. He has helped me, along with other board members, but him certainly with his vast wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience. He helped me understand the role of being a board member,” Lewis said.

Arthur served on the board at Cerritos for 21 years before being defeated by Martha Camacho-Rodriguez in November.

Despite being such a big influence, Lewis wanted to reiterate that only people sitting at the board table currently will have a final say so in matters.

“I’m definitely going to miss him, certainly I will call him for advice on certain issues but again the people that are elected to this board table will be making the decisions,” he added.

By becoming president, Lewis became the school’s first Cuban-American president.

“This is most especially meaningful since the death of [former Prime Minister of Cuba] Fidel Castro. My grandparents and mother migrated here from Cuba in 1968 […] This is definitely a new era for many different respects,” Lewis said.

Just prior to the announcement, trustee member John Paul Drayer made the plea that whoever become the new president of the board ensures there will be no discrimination of any kind toward minorities on the board.

Lewis understood Drayer’s point despite the majority of the board being minorities.

“I intend to ensure that doesn’t happen by ensuring that each person at the board table gets a fair hearing. We want to ensure our meetings don’t last until one o’clock in the morning as they have in the past,” Lewis said with a smile. “When I was first elected this board became a majority Latino board, but it does kind of sink in as a realization that we are a very diverse community and our board table represents that.”

He also made history by becoming the youngest board president in Cerritos history.

“I ran for this office while I was a student at Biola University and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I could be an elected official before the age of 25; before I could even run for Congress,” Lewis said. “With the support that I’ve gotten from my colleagues, they recognize that my election is not about me but for the new generation of students looking for opportunity.”

Lewis expressed the desire to actively speak with students because he is “one of them.”

Despite being the youngest member of the of the board, Lewis does not feel his voice will be silenced.

“I’ve never felt that in my time here. Never felt that because I was younger than 25, because I’m a millennial that my opinions mean less than if I were 20 years older,” Lewis said.

Former board president Dr. Shin Liu said, “Well [Lewis] is young, he just graduated so, I believe he will [focus on the students]. Since he’s young, I want him focusing on new technology, something that students like. I’m excited, I’m very excited.”

She feels with Lewis’ age, he will be a president for the students.

“I expect [Lewis] to unify the board and since he’s young [he can be] friendly to the entire board and work together for students,” she added.

In addition to Lewis being named president, Avalos was named vice president while Liu will serve as the board clerk.