The California Community College System Board of Governors chose Eloy Ortiz Oakley to lead its 113 community colleges. Oakley will be the first Latino chancellor of the California community college system, where nearly one-half of students are Latino. Oakley has served as president of Long Beach City College since 2007. During his tenure, Oakley helped form Long Beach College Promise, which engages high school administrators and teachers to work with college faculty and staff to create pathways for students to follow as they progress from one educational institution to the next. Long Beach College Promise students are guaranteed a tuition-free year at Long Beach City College and preferred admission status to California State University, Long Beach after completing transfer requirements. America’s College Promise, an initiative introduced by President Barack Obama in 2015, was modeled in part on the Long Beach College Promise. While at LBCCD, Oakley also helped establish Promise Pathways, a program that uses high school performance grades and transcripts to ensure students are placed in appropriate class levels

A press release announcing Ortiz Oakley as the new CCC Chancellor can be found at http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/DocDownloads/PressReleases/JULY2016/PR-Chancellor-Oakley-7-18-FINAL.pdf