Editor’s Note: Quotes from Dr. Luster and Dr. Hands were added on May 20.
The search for a new president is over. After months of searching for a new president, since Dr. Pamela Luster’s retirement announcement last semester, Dr. Ashanti Hands is the new President of San Diego Mesa College.
“Dr. Hands is exactly the type of dynamic leader needed to take Mesa College to the next level of community engagement and success,” said Chancellor Carlos O. Cortez.
She is currently Mesa’s vice president of Student Services at Mesa College.
“I am humbled to be selected for the presidency of the very college I have called home for more than 14 years,” she said.
Hands joined Mesa College in 2008 as the Dean of Student Affairs. She then became acting dean of Student Development and Matriculation before assuming her current position.
President Luster expressed on Twitter that Hands’ selection was fantastic news that she was accepted the position of President for San Diego Mesa College. She also described Dr. Hands as a “reflective and passionate community college leader.”
SDCCD Board of Trustees President Maria Nieto Senour shared that Hands “exemplifies the type of student-focused leader we need to continue the outstanding work being done at San Diego Mesa College.” Not only this, but she expressed the importance Hands’ played in the college’s “diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.”
Students and staff are excited about the new leadership that will be taken on by Hands starting July 1.
“I know how much she cares about students and how much expertise she brings to this position as well as her experience here, ” English Professor Jason Kalchik said.
Hands has been an inspiration to other students that “you can do anything if they put your mind to it,” said Jarian Duong, who works for Mesa Journeys under student affairs as a college technical project assistant.
“I am excited to continue the great work we have started at Mesa College and look forward to the bold, courageous, equity-minded ways we will show up for our students, each other, our district, and community,” Hands said in a news release from SDCCD.
Hands currently lives in Chula Vista with her husband, Ronnie Hands, who have known each other since high school. She is also a mother of two young adult children: Jordan Hands, a graduate student at San Diego State University, and Jaylen Hands, a professional basketball player in Belgium.
Hands earned a doctorate of education from San Diego State University for educational leadership. She also has a Master of Arts in education with an emphasis in multicultural counseling from SDSU and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from UC San Diego.
“Applying for the presidency was less about the title and more about the ability to passionately pursue my purpose in the field that I love, at a place that I love, with people who inspire the best in me,” Hands said.
