Selection of College President Stirs Anger : Education: Protesters are upset that three Latinos were bypassed in favor of an Anglo to lead Long Beach City College.

Long Beach City College has been thrown into turmoil over the Board of Trustees’ decision to bypass three Latino candidates and select an Anglo administrator as president.

Latino activists, students and residents rallied at the college Friday to protest the selection Tuesday of Barbara Adams to replace President Beverly O’Neill, who is retiring in June.

Adams, 59, is the president of Las Positas College in Livermore in Northern California.

The three finalists were Edward Hernandez, executive vice chancellor of Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana; Alex Sanchez, president of Rio Hondo College in Whittier; and William Vega, president of Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley.

About 60 protesters chanted “We want justice!” and waved signs to protest Adams’ appointment to lead the college, where more than half of the 23,000 students are minorities and a quarter are Latino.

“Here we had three individuals of Hispanic origin that had superior resumes compared to a white woman that had less experience,” said Margie Rodriguez, who heads a local Latina group and is one of five Latino members of the college’s committee on staff diversity who resigned in protest after Adams’ appointment.

Adams said this week that she regrets that “some members of the community feel disenfranchised and hurt” by her selection.

“I believe very strongly that these feelings need to be aired,” she said. “And I will continue to encourage this discussion when I arrive on campus.”

Adams has not finished her Ph.D. Each of the other three candidates holds a doctorate in higher education, City College officials said. Adams heads a small campus with an overwhelmingly Anglo student population of just over 5,000. Each of the Latino candidates heads an urban campus with at least 10,000 students, officials said.

“How qualified do Latinos have to become before we can equally compete?” Rodriguez asked.

Trustee Judith Olmstead Powell said Adams emerged as the front-runner during a series of 90-minute interviews that trustees conducted with each finalist.

“Her answers were outstanding,” Powell said. “I would not have voted in favor of anyone I didn’t think was qualified.”

Powell said she is not concerned that Adams does not have a doctorate because it is not a requirement for the job. However, all previous presidents in the 60-year history of the campus have had Ph.D. degrees, officials said.

Adams said she has completed course work at UCLA toward a Ph.D. but has not finished her dissertation.

Her selection prompted officials from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to schedule a meeting with Latino leaders next week.

“We have enough information that we should talk with them, and possibly to some of the board members,” Regional Director Phillip Montez said.

Two of five board members voted against appointing Adams.