The White House honored a University of California Regent on Friday for his commitment to making college accessible for everyone.
Regent Eloy Ortiz Oakley was recognized as a College Opportunity Champion for Change for his work as co-founder of the Long Beach College Promise, which aims to increase students’ academic potential by offering guidance and support. Oakley is also president of Long Beach City College and will begin his term as Chancellor of the California Community College system this December.
The White House also recognized 10 other individuals who have worked in their own communities to strengthen access to high-quality education.
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U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. thanked all the individuals recognized on Friday for helping students realize their dreams of obtaining a college education.
King also touted President Barack Obama’s plans to make going to college easier, including making the Free Application for Federal Student Aid open earlier and pushing for Pell Grants to be available in the summer, which he said he thinks would help students graduate on time.
Oakley said he thinks making going to college a possibility throughout a student’s life is important.
“The Long Beach College Promise wants to get students comfortable with college on day one,” Oakley said. “We want to engage parents and students through the College Promise’s free year of tuition at Long Beach City College, but that’s just a Trojan horse to get into the conversation early.”
He added the College Promise is working to eliminate placement exams and other barriers to college education that he thinks make it harder for students to go to college.
“Most of these kids don’t live in an environment with people who know how to navigate the system that we’ve created,” Oakley said. “We’re doing everything we can to create a system that’s clearly navigable for any student.”
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Oakley also said he thinks communities must commit to long-term efforts to get students to college.
“We’ve seen far too often, the latest fad, opportunity or jargon about what colleges are trying to accomplish, but it takes elected leaders that support superintendents, college presidents,” Oakley said.
Oakley added he thinks the president has set an expectation that public education matters, especially with his plan to make community colleges across the country tuition free.
“Just having the president, First Lady, or the Second Lady engaging in that conversation every day helps those of us who want to make change, make change happen,” Oakley said.