Sonya Christian, head of the Kern Community College District in the Central Valley, has been named chancellor of the states 116-community college system,

o

fficials announced Thursday, taking over as campuses are reeling from enrollment plunges and are challenged to find ways to serve students facing barriers to higher education.

Christian praised for her work to close achievement and equity gaps will be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to hold the post.

We continue to face many challenges, but I truly believe our greatest challenges enable us to do our greatest work,” Christian said in a statement. “We are called to design the most vibrant, resilient, and effective learning environment ever.”

She was appointed to the position after a nationwide search that began

last

in July and will take over on June 1.

The California Community Colleges proudly serves as the first for millions of Californians first-generation students, first post-secondary institution attended, and we are pleased to continue that tradition with our first woman to lead the system as permanent chancellor, said Amy Costa, president of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors.

Between fall 2019 and fall 2022, enrollment in California community colleges tumbled to 1.4 million students a decline of nearly 300,000 students, according to state data. The historic drops reflect a student body grappling with rising costs and the states affordable housing crisis, forcing many to prioritize work and family caretaking responsibilities over attending class.

Nearly 70%

percent

of Californias community college students are considered low-income. Forty-seven percent of students are Hispanic, 24% are white, 11% are Asian and 5% are Black, according to state data.

Christian, who has served as community college chancellor in Kern County since July 2021, started as a math professor at Bakersfield College in 1991. She later became division chair before moving to Oregon to become an administrator at Lane Community College.

She returned to Kern County in 2013 when she became president at Bakersfield College, according to the district.

In the Kern Community College District, Christian is credited with spearheading a statewide coalition in 2015 that raised philanthropic money for what led to the development of Guided Pathways, an effort to redesign community college education to better support students.

Under her leadership, the district also developed the California Renewable Energy Laboratory, a direct air capture hub, which extracts carbon from the air to reduce emissions that contribute to the climate crisis.

She received her bachelors degree from the University of Kerala in Kerala, India, and earned her masters degree in applied mathematics from USC and her doctorate from UCLA.

Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, a nonprofit that advocates for policies that improve education equity, said Christian is dedicated to addressing education gaps that disproportionately hurt students from

minoritized

backgrounds, especially Black and Latino students.

Siqueiros said Kern County is a leader in awarding associates degrees for transfer, which guarantees students admission to Cal State University. She credits Christian, who also serves on the board for the Campaign for College Opportunity, for working closely with faculty who were skeptical of a state law passed in 2017 that sought to eliminate remedial classes.

Shes not afraid to talk to those that are not in agreement with her position, Siqueiros said. And she’s been unafraid to be out front, pushing for unpopular change in service of students.”

Christian replaces Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who resigned from the position in August to become president and chief executive of College Futures Foundation, an Oakland-based nonprofit focused on improving college graduation outcomes for students of color and students from low-income families.