California State Polytechnic University, Pomona President Soraya M. Coley will step down and retire at the end of July. She is the university’s first woman and first Black president.
“I dedicated my efforts to improving the lives and futures of our students,” Coley wrote in an email to the campus community. “Watching them grow and flourish filled my heart and focused my work on contributing to building a university that would help them achieve their dreams, no matter their circumstances or backgrounds.”
Coley began her tenure at the university in 2015 as its sixth president. During her time at the university, she developed a CARE Center to better serve students and increase the number of graduates at the school. In total, nearly 61,000 students graduated while she was president.
During her time as president the school also built a new Student Services Building and additional student housing. It also established a Philanthropic Board.
Her time has not been without controversy, though. In 2023, 25 faculty senators declared a vote of no confidence against Coley.
“I am working with the cabinet to prepare a comprehensive and detailed response to concerns raised by the Senate, which I will share early in the spring semester as a catalyst for campus dialogue and engagement,” Coley wrote in an email at the time.
Coley has been with the CSU system for
40 years.
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The long-awaited Convention Center expansion may take longer than expected to complete and may not be ready in time for the Olympic Games after all.
City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo and Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso recently wrote a memo stating that fire recovery efforts would “require the full attention of city staff.”
The memo further stated that modernizing the LACC was still a priority but “at this point, it is necessary to pause the existing negations.”
On Tuesday, City Council’s economic development and jobs committee voted to direct Szabo and Tso to return in 30 days with short-term and long-term options to revitalize the center.
