College Chief Recovering After Crash

The president of Oxnard College continued to recuperate Wednesday at a local hospital from a spinal cord injury he suffered during a traffic accident near campus.

Steven F. Arvizu, 55, said he suffered temporary paralysis for about two days after the Nov. 21 crash, but has since regained feeling in his arms and legs and is undergoing rehabilitation for bruising to his upper spine.

“I was injured on impact and I was not able to move anything. It was pretty scary, but fortunately I was quickly taken to St. John’s Hospital and I have had excellent medical attention,” Arvizu said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Arvizu, who is expected to make a full recovery, said he plans to return to work in January. During his absence, Dennis Cabral, executive vice president of student learning, has become acting president.

The Christmas holiday break for students begins Dec. 16, and classes resume Jan. 11. Arvizu said he expects to be released from St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard this week, but would continue physical therapy for about two months.

The accident happened about 11:30 a.m. at Rose Avenue and Wooley Road, about a mile from campus, according to Oxnard Police Officer Joe Kaniewski.

Arvizu was traveling south on Rose Avenue toward the college in his 1992 Jaguar when two cars stopped suddenly. Arvizu’s vehicle rear-ended the other cars, Kaniewski said.

Three people were injured, none as seriously as Arvizu. No citations will be issued and the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Kaniewski declined to release further details.

Arvizu, who was hired in Oxnard after a nationwide search in May 1997, was driving from his Oxnard home to campus to pick up a speech that he planned to deliver that afternoon at the Camarillo Boys & Girls Club, he said.

Arvizu said family members, colleagues and students had shown an outpouring of support since the accident.

“The room is all filled with flowers. There have been a lot of people wishing me well and praying for me,” he said.

Before his appointment to Oxnard College, Arvizu was executive vice president at Cal State University, Monterey Bay. He also served on the National Advisory Council on Historic Preservation under Presidents Carter and Reagan.

Arvizu is married; he has three children and four grandchildren.