“We are at our best when unemployment figures rise, the housing market declines and plant closures threaten the local economy,” she said. “We are equally important when the need for a trained and skilled work force becomes critical. This is when our students and families make community colleges their first choice and they realize we are indispensable.”.”.”

Cepeda is president of San Diego Mesa College, the largest of four colleges in the San Diego Community College District. Like many community colleges, Mesa is experiencing significant enrollment increases. But the trend in California is even more extreme because the state’s four-year schools are turning away applicants and closing their doors due to enrollment caps. Last summer, as the state’s unemployment rate rose to 11.9 percent, more students than ever sought education and training at their local community colleges.

During tough economic times, students and their families recognize that one of the ways to keep the promise of a college education is by taking advantage of community colleges,” said Cepeda. 

 Cepeda , 57, has been at the helm of Mesa since 2005. When she was selected, it seemed like an ideal match, looking at the college’s demographics. Half of the 22,000 are minorities (20 percent Latino), and 54 percent are female. Many are first-generation college students with immigrant parents, a profile that matches Cepeda’s, as she was born in Nicaragua and came to the United States at age 11. 

 That fact was not lost on the search committee that recommended Cepeda for the presidency. The longest-serving member of the district's Board of Trustees, Dr. Maria Nieto Senour, who was on the board when Cepeda was selected commented on these aspects of the president's background. 

 “Rita Cepeda is a first for out district. She is our first Latina president,” said Senour. “ I think it is  important for us to have on our leadership team the perspective of someone who has firsthand knowledge of the culture of the largest-growing segment of our community. In addition, she has lived the immigrant experience, which is characteristic of many of our students.”  

 Cepeda agrees that part of the attraction to Mesa was the identification she felt with the people who work and study there. But she also liked the atmosphere of collegiality and the mission of service to the students community deeply ingrained in the college’s core values. 

 One of the most important elements of a successful community college presidency is the degree to which there is a "match with the values and priorities of the institution and those of the individual selected to lead the college," she said. "For me, Mesa College is all that and more" 

 For this reason, a main focus is to address the needs of those in society who are in poverty. Most often, she notes, these are disproportionately women, children and ethnic and language minorities. This is something she knows about firsthand, including how difficult it can be to persevere in the face of cultural and economic obstacles.  

 As a young girl, Cepeda struggled to adapt to the California public school system. She started her first day of class knowing only a few words of English and subsequently learned English as a second language. In addition, she was the oldest of five children and, like most immigrants, faced financial obstacles to pursuing a college education. This meant she had to work full time while enrolling as a full-time student.  

 Through it all, she credits her father with providing the critical motivation to pursue a higher education. 

 “My dad left Nicaragua when he was in his 30s. He was a pharmacist who could not practice here because of re-certification issues,” she said. “But he came because he wanted an education for his children. It was an enormous sacrifice, but he instilled in us that excellence in education was important. He emphasized it over and over again.”  

 Today Cepeda holds a doctorate in higher education administration, policy analysis and research from the University of Southern California, master’s degree in clinical psychology and bachelor’s degree in communication disorders from California State University-Long Beach.  

 Her career has included various positions in the community college sector. She honed her leadership skills as president of Santa Ana College in Orange County, Calif., and interim president of Mission College in Santa Clara, Calif. She spent much of her career in the State Chancellor’s Office for the California Community Colleges, including a top leadership assignment as vice chancellor for transfer, curriculum and instructional resources.  

 Prior to joining Mesa, she was on a special state assignment as associate to the special trustee for the Compton Community College District. This institution had been placed on notice by the systemwide office, was on probation from the Accreditation Commission and facing loss of accreditation, an action unprecedented in the history of California community colleges. Despite working in a difficult and controversial climate, Cepeda managed to put in place revised procedures, programs, services and documentation that served as a rationale for continued accreditation for Compton.  

 On the Mesa campus, Cepeda’s management style is described as “accessible.” She believes in an open-door policy for faculty, staff and students and spends a great deal of time meeting and talking with all of the various constituencies at the college.  

 “I want to be accessible to them because I think the college moves forward through clear and consistent communication,” she said. “People who work here and students who come here need to participate in the governance of the college, and they need to buy in to decisions. We can accomplish more when we talk and all the cards are on the table. That’s very important.”  

 It’s a style that has earned her rave reviews, especially from those who see her both as a leader and mentor.   

 “Dr. Cepeda is the consummate educator,” said Joi Blake, dean of student development and matriculation. “As a mentor, Dr. Cepeda challenged me to strive for excellence. She provided me the freedom to depart from the familiar, which gave me the courage to strive for higher standards – personally and professionally. The substantial growth of student services programs at Mesa over recent years is a direct result of the confidence she has placed in her administrative team.”  

 It is no surprise that Cepeda has expanded student services at the college. She is devoted to students and spends as much time as possible with them. Interacting with students keeps her “grounded,” she says, especially when she is dealing with the constant demands and challenges of her job. For example, one day at the beginning of the fall semester when Cepeda had been dealing nonstop with opening-week problems such as overcrowded classes and parking, she re-energized herself by going out to the campus quadrangle and spent time greeting students and mingling with them.  

 “It’s the most authentic experience just to talk with students because they are so positive and hopeful,” she said.  

 Another high point of her year is commencement, as she watches students fulfill their dreams and receive their degrees.  

 Occasionally, Cepeda has been fortunate enough to form a special bond with Mesa students. Such was the case of Hermes Castro, a geology student. In 2008, Cepeda began a campuswide effort to raise funds for Castro to accompany famed arctic explorer Robert Swan on his 2009 Antarctica expedition. Castro had met Swan following a lecture he had given on campus. Swan was so impressed by Castro, a paraplegic, that he invited him to join the expedition and offered to cover all of the expedition costs except plane fare. With students, Cepeda led a campuswide effort and successfully raised $10,000 to cover plane fare costs for Hermes and his wife to participate in the March 2009 expedition.  

 It is experiences like this that cause Cepeda to refer to her career in education as a great blessing, noting that it is truly a privilege to do the kind of work that enables her to give back and to provide to others the same bridge extended to her. For this reason, she serves on several boards of community organizations that lend support to young people, such as the San Diego County Student Dropout Task Force and the San Diego Youth Council. She also has made it a point to become a member of various local Workforce Partnership boards.  

 “I get a great deal of information about our courses and programs and what kinds of education and training we need to provide for the region,” she said.  

 Despite her optimism and enthusiasm, Cepeda acknowledges that these days, when the needs of the community are at a peak, it is not always easy to find the resources to meet all of the demands for programs and services. When she came to Mesa, the budget picture was more positive and she was able to strengthen services and instruction by hiring new administrators and faculty.  

 Cepeda takes great pride in noting that she has had an impact on expanding the vision and mission of the college by focusing on the social justice values of higher education.  

 “When I came here, everyone talked about goals and outcomes, which are important,” she said. “But I also asked them to view our mission in terms of equity and diversity and address the issues of poverty that prevent people from realizing their dream of education.”  

 Cepeda obviously loves her job, but that doesn’t mean it is without its frustrations, especially when it comes to dealing with all the rules and regulations that are part of California’s statewide system of higher education. Cepeda indicates that she spends a lot of time in meetings devoted to understanding districtwide policies and procedures and responding to government requests for information.  

 “I understand the necessity, but there are times when it feels like I must spend a lot of time dealing with requirements from the state and federal government, and it does not seem to be advancing education or the quality of people’s lives,” she said.  

 And that is when she is likely to go home and unwind by enjoying time with her young grandchild, her two daughters or her husband of 39 years, Juan, whom she calls “an amazing human being.”  

 “He has been enormously supportive,” she said. “I could not survive this job without my family.”   

 But Cepeda has done more than survive; she has thrived by giving as much as possible to her work and learning from the challenges she faces daily.  

 “I have grown with the college, and the college has grown with me,” she said.