L.A. City College Inducts Robledo as President--Finally

When Jose Robledo became a migrant farm worker at 5, he spoke no English and stuffed bags full of cotton day after day in the fields of Texas. By the time he turned 10, he had figured out there was more to life than back-breaking labor.

“I can still remember thinking, ‘If I can make $10,000, I’d be a success,’ ” said Robledo, now 46.

By those pre-adolescent standards--or almost anyone else’s, for that matter--Robledo has succeeded. Earlier this month, he was inducted as the 10th president of Los Angeles City College.

“I had something to prove,” Robledo said of his determination to overcome the obstacles of poverty and language. “If someone else could do something, so could I. And I’m not done proving that.”

Although Robledo’s position as LACC president was formalized May 7, he has held the job for two years.

After 11 years as an administrator at De Anza College in Cupertino, he was named acting LACC president in the spring of 1991 and was officially given the post last year. Inauguration ceremonies were delayed to allow for planning and scheduling constraints, college public information officer Fred Piegonski said.

Robledo is getting good marks from faculty.

Winston Butler, chairman of the Theater Department and a faculty representative, said the new president “is very committed to faculty concerns and to the students.”

“We have not liked all the decisions he has made, but he is very strong and good at presenting the reasons for why he does something,” Butler said of faculty reaction to Robledo.

Robledo and the faculty all recognize that, in this time of shrinking funds, the mission to provide quality education to LACC’s 15,500 students will be a tough one.

Beyond budgetary considerations is the changing demographics of the community LACC serves and the increasing numbers of Armenian, Asian and Latino students who need English-language training. “Our purpose should be to get students through a transitional program (that teaches students English) and into an academic or vocational program,” Robledo said.

Robledo, the father of three sons, once worked with the late Caesar Chavez to unionize artichoke pickers. The Diamond Bar resident, who holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from UC Santa Cruz and a master’s in public administration from Cal State San Jose, plays down the importance of his inspirational role toward the changing LACC population.

“I hope I see myself as an example of someone who has made it through hard work,” Robledo said. “I don’t see myself as having completed the task.”