Two Latina leaders to fill key administrative positions
October 24, 2018 |
San Diego Mesa College has announced the appointment of two administrators in key positions for the College. Dr. Leticia P. López has been appointed as the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Program Manager and Leticia Abril Díaz has been appointed Director of Mesa’s Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) and STAR TRIO Programs.
“We are excited to welcome both of these leaders to important roles on our campus, and look forward to seeing how their ideas, efforts and leadership shape inclusive and equity focused programming for our students,” stated Mesa College President Pamela T. Luster.
Dr. Leticia P. López has been selected to serve as the as the Hispanic Serving Institution Program Activity Manager at San Diego Mesa College. Since 2017, she has served as
Acting HSI Program Manager for both the Developing Hispanic- Serving Institutions-Title
V grant and the Title III HSI STEM grant, and was previously a Professor of Spanish
for 15 years in the Mesa College Languages Department. Dr. López identifies as a community
college advocate, a Latinx champion of student success, a lifelong learner, and a
travel enthusiast. Dr. Lopez has been newly appointed to the AHSIE (Alliance of Hispanic
Serving Institution Educators) Council for 2018-2020 and the National Science Foundation
“Resiste” Grant Advisory Board at San Diego State University. She is of Cuban heritage
and grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry and B.A. in
Spanish from Mount St Mary’s College. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages
and Literature from UC Santa Barbara.
Leticia Abril Díaz will be heading up Mesa’s Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) and STAR TRIO programs. Ms. Díaz has developed a passion and desire to increase awareness of the
importance of higher education and student support programs and services. Leticia
is strongly moved by the power of the community college system and is interested in
the overall student access and achievement of higher educational degrees. Ms. Díaz
has a vested interest in collaborating to cultivate our higher education, and has
extensive experience working in various student services capacities, such as the UCLA
Center for Community College Partnership and the Undergraduate Research Opportunity
Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Most recently, Ms. Díaz served as
the EOPS Supervisor at Southwestern College. She earned her Associate degree from
Southwestern College (SWC); Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA) and obtained her Master of Arts degree in Higher Education from
the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Currently, Leticia is pursuing a joint Doctor
of Educational Leadership degree at California State University, San Marcos and at
the University of California, San Diego.