San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) governing board members Geysil Arroyo, Craig Milgrim, and Maria Nieto Senour were officially sworn into new, four-year terms at the Dec. 15 Board of Trustees meeting. All three were unopposed.
Arroyo represents District E, which includes Golden Hill, City Heights, Logan Heights, Downtown, Normal Heights, Barrio Logan, Mountain View, and South Park. Arroyo was appointed in 2021 to fill a vacancy created when former trustee Sean Elo-Rivera was elected to the San Diego City Council. A graduate of UC San Diego, Arroyo earned a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University in New York, has worked as a public health consultant since 2011, and is engaged in extensive volunteer work in the community.
Milgrim was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2018 and represents District C, which includes Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Hills, Mission Valley, Hillcrest, University Heights, Linda Vista, Midway and Old Town. He served for 26 years as a professor of biology at Grossmont College and is committed to addressing food and housing insecurity and advocating for LGBTQ faculty, professional staff and students. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in botany from the University of Vermont-Burlington.
Senour has been serving on the Board of Trustees since she was first elected in 1990. She represents District A, which includes the San Diego communities of University City, La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Clairemont Mesa, Torrey Pines, and Bay Ho. A former elementary school teacher and counselor, she is retired from the Department of Counseling and School Psychology at San Diego State University, where she directed the Community Based Block (CBB) program, which specializes in preparing counselors from diverse ethnic groups to be multicultural specialists.
Following their taking the oath of office, Senour was re-elected by her colleagues as president of the board at the same meeting. Trustees elected Mary Graham as executive vice president of the board and Chancellor Carlos Cortez as appointed secretary.
“Serving as president of the San Diego Community College District’s Board of Trustees is a responsibility I do not take lightly, as we are the largest provider of higher education and workforce training in the region and are on the front lines in expanding opportunities for long-neglected and underserved communities,” Senour said.
Board priorities in the coming year include rebuilding enrollment following the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding services for students experiencing housing and food insecurity, all while building on its steadfast commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and eliminating achievement gaps.
The SDCCD is governed by a five-member Board of Trustees. Student representatives from San Diego City, San Diego Mesa, San Diego Miramar, and San Diego Continuing Education colleges, also serve a one-year term filling a student trustee position on a rotating basis.
