Here’s how the incoming CSU Chancellor is preparing for her new role

The California State University system encompasses nearly two dozen campuses, making it the largest and most diverse four-year college institution in the country — and soon, there will be a change in leadership.

This fall, Mildred García will become the 11th CSU chancellor and the first Latina appointed to the position. García will face a range of challenges once she takes office, from a budget deficit, documented mishandling of sexual harassment complaints, threat of a labor strike, and the possibility of tuition increases.

She is replacing Chancellor Joseph Castro, who stepped down amid criticism of his handling of sexual harassment complaints at Fresno State.

CapRadio’s Vicki Gonzalez spoke with García about how she’s preparing to weather these upcoming challenges and her plans to shape a stronger foundation across 23 campuses.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length

Interview highlights

On why García decided on a lifelong career in education

I am a child of seven. My parents came from Puerto Rico to Brooklyn to seek a better life with five of their seven children. Then eight years later, there were … two [more] surprises — my brother and I.

… What my parents always insisted was that the only inheritance a poor family could leave you is a good education. They would say that to us in Spanish constantly. I’m a first-generation college student, and my parents worked in the factory in downtown Brooklyn, and they kept on sharing with us that education was important if we didn’t want to work in those factories.

When my father died, I was 12. My mother allowed me at the age of 14 [to get] working papers to work in that factory, and that opened my eyes as to why my parents said what they said. They didn’t want us in that factory.

I quit and vowed to the foreman that someday I would be his boss and I would get my mother out of that factory. So that shaped me — that was a great education.

Education has been important to me, and it is why I dedicated my life to make sure that first-generation, low-income students of color and all those who are underrepresented, as well as those who enter our doors, get a high-quality, affordable higher education.

On how being a leader at CSU Dominguez Hills and CSU Fullerton has prepared her for the chancellorship

So the [CSU] system has 23 campuses, and both institutions were a learning experience for me. When I went to Dominguez Hills, I was coming from New York City, and in Brooklyn, it’s a different place. So I got to really understand the diversity of that part of California.

We learned how to go into those neighborhoods and seek out individuals to make sure that they understood the CSU to make it feel like a place for them. We engaged with our communities, and the facility was so committed to the students.

… Faculty and staff are there because they want to be there because they love the students we serve, and many of them come from that background.

… [When I went to CSU Fullerton, it was] a different part of California [than Dominguez Hills]. There, I saw changing demographics and how that was affecting Orange County. I learned about different populations, the Vietnamese population, the Hispanic population — of all different backgrounds.

And [both CSUs Dominguez Hills and Fullerton] have to work extremely hard to graduate students at a higher rate and start to close the opportunity gap, which is so important for the state of California.

On handling future sexual harassment cases

Well, I can’t talk about the past; I can certainly talk about the future.

Cal State recently was forced to deal with several sexual harassment allegations. A new report finds it repeatedly fell short

… Number one, the [California State Auditor’s report and the Cozen O’Connor] reports done by the consultants that the California state hired are one of the best in the country that’s been seen. As you know, I am currently the president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which represents over 350 institutions. Title IX is not a California State University issue — it’s an issue across the country. That report not only talks about what should have happened and what was wrong, and how to make it better.

And the CSU is committed — the board, the interim Chancellor Koester, and me, coming in — to make sure we implement that report. It’s a model report for the nation, and we go ahead and implement that report, which they’ve already started.

We’re going to be a model for the entire nation on Title IX. It is very clear what steps we have to take and the money we have to spend in making sure that we have the personnel in place and that the personnel understand and learn how to deal with an infestation.

… And then my job and the president’s job is to hold these people accountable.

On hopes for first year accomplishments

The first year, the first thing I’m going to do is learn from the workgroups Koester, the Interim-Chancellor and the board have started — Title IX being one of them, enrollment management being another — that they have done great work in. [I’m also hoping to work on the] 2025 graduation initiative, which we have to take into the future.

I want to learn as much as I can about the tuition policy … learn as much as I can as I walk in. I’m going to walk in and learn, and listen — truly listen to the faculty and staff and students, and as they say “listen to the silences” — to understand how we can continue to uplift the CSU.

What I will accomplish [includes] the implementation of that Title IX report, and we’re going to be working on that [graduation initiative] of 2025 and take that into the future to continue to close the opportunity gap and graduate students so they can move forward.

And I’m going to continue to look and see how we serve our faculty and staff with equitable wages.