Board Reports

Reports to the Board of Trustees

Each month, President Torres gives a report on college activities, honors and achievements during the regular meeting of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees.

For previous reports, please see the board reports archive.

board reports archive

Board Meeting of July 7, 2025

58th Annual Commencement

President Torres smiling with young woman in cap and gown De Anza held its 58th annual commencement celebration last week. It was a joy-filled event and I'm confident it was a deeply meaningful experience for our grads and their families. Watching our students cross the stage to receive their hard-earned degrees and certificates was a powerful reminder of why we do this work.

About 600 students crossed the stage during the ceremony.
More than 5,000 family members and other well-wishers were in the audience.
All told, nearly 1,900 students are graduating from De Anza this year, and we are awarding nearly 2,350 degrees, as well as more than 750 certificates.

I am thankful that Trustees Peter Landsberger, Pearl Cheng, Laura Casas and Terry Godfrey, as well as Chancellor Lee Lambert and Vice Chancellor Christopher Dela Rosa, were able to attend the ceremony, which was truly a collegewide undertaking:

Some 55 classified professionals volunteered to help guide students, answer questions and provide other support on Sunday
Our custodial and grounds staff worked Saturday and Sunday to set up for the event
Nearly 40 faculty members and 12 deans were seated on stage

You can view photos from the celebration at deanza.edu/graduation.

New Vice Presidents

I'm thrilled to announce the selection of two outstanding individuals for key vice president positions at De Anza College.

Randy Bryant is now our vice president of Workforce Innovation and Economic Advancement. Randy has been our longtime dean of Career Technical Education, after serving as an instructor, department chair and acting dean of Business, Computer Science and Applied Technologies. Randy's promotion prioritizes our commitment to further supporting economic and social mobility for our students, while remaining responsive to the ever-changing needs of business and industry.

Dr. Michele LeBleu-Burns will become our next vice president of Student Services in September, filling the vacancy that will occur when Dr. Rob Mieso retires this fall. Dr. LeBleu-Burns has demonstrated her leadership and dedication to our students as De Anza's longtime dean of Student Development and EOPS.

Dr. Mieso will be with us through the summer, and I want to take this opportunity to thank him for his excellent service to De Anza College and our students over the years.

Vision Aligned Reporting Academy

I was pleased to be part of the De Anza team that attended the first convening session of the Vision-Aligned Reporting Academy in Irvine last month.

De Anza is one of 10 colleges chosen for the current cohort of the academy, which provides support for building on our use of data to close equity gaps and align our systems with statewide goals, while learning about best practices from other colleges. The program is sponsored by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office in partnership with the RP Group and the Center for Economic Mobility.

Pictured team members, in addition to myself, include Michele LeBleu-Burns, Randy Bryant, Laureen Balducci, Nazy Galoyan and Mallory Newell.

President's Awards for Outstanding Service

Earlier this month, I announced this year's recipients of the annual President's Award for Outstanding Service, which honors De Anza employees who have provided exceptional service to the college and its students.

Sal Breiter, Margarita Hawthorn and Eric Mendoza were selected from nominations submitted in the categories of faculty member, classified professional and administrator. In addition, Nathaly Aguilar was selected for a special award in the category of executive assistant.

Sal Breiter

Sal Breiter

Margarita Hawthorn

Margarita Hawthorn

Eric Mendoza

Eric Mendoza

Nathaly Aguilar

Nathaly Aguilar

Equity Champion Awards

Jamie Pelusi, Shaila Ramos and HEFAS students Earlier in June, the De Anza Equity Action Council celebrated four individuals and our HEFAS program for their contributions to advancing equity on campus. This year's Equity Champion Awards were given to:

Matsuko Estrada Nakamatsu – a student who's active with our HEFAS program, the ESL Club and DASG
Jamie Pelusi – faculty coordinator for De Anza's Pride Center
Shaila Ramos-Garcia – program coordinator for undocumented student support
Lydia Hearn – longtime faculty member who served as interim vice president of Instruction last year
Higher Education for AB 540 Students (HEFAS) – the campus program that provides peer support and resources for undocumented students

End-of-Year Celebrations

Finally, we held a number of year-end celebrations in the weeks leading up to our collegewide graduation ceremony. I attended as many as I could, and it was great to see so many of our programs and Learning Communities celebrate their amazing students. These events included