A two-time graduate of San Diego State University will now lead San Diego’s largest community college. Ashanti Hands (’94, ’14), an alumna of the Community-Based Block (CBB) master’s program and Ed.D. in Community College Leadership (CCLEAD) has been appointed president of San Diego Mesa College.
Part of the San Diego Community College District, Mesa has an enrollment of more than 30,000 students per year. Hands has been at the college since 2008, serving as vice president of student services since 2016. In announcing the hire, the school praised her adoption of data-informed decision making to ensure equitable outcomes.
“I am excited to live my purpose of creating conditions that matter for students to succeed, with a focus on students who have been disproportionately impacted by our system,” Hands said. “Finally, because representation matters, as a Black woman, I am extremely excited to reflect the students we serve, and the possibilities of what community college leadership can look like.”
The CCLEAD program, Hands said, deepened her passion for leadership. She praised the chance to interact with “giants” in the community college field, as well as the cohort model which helped to form her collaborative approach to leading.
“Because of this program, I am a stronger, more courageous, vulnerable, informed, equity-minded leader and disruptor of status quo,” Hands said. “This program taught me how to create space for the change I know that our system needs.”
Hands said her experience as a CBBer was also instrumental in her development as a leader. The multicultural community counseling program instilled in her the importance of process and introspection.
“I learned that when we fully, authentically, equitably and intentionally engage the process of unpacking those things that serve as barriers to our evolution, that beautiful things can take root and grow,” Hands said. “Through CBB I was reminded that type of work is not easy, but it is essential to the health of people and organizations.”
Hands will assume the presidency on July 1.
