Editor’s note, April 14, 11:24 a.m. – A previous version of the article incorrectly said De Anza College president Omar Torres “resigned through an email Chancellor Lee Lamber sent De Anza employees on the morning of April 13.” Torres did not resign through this email; rather, Lambert announced his resignation via an email to De Anza employees on April 13. This has since been corrected.
Last updated on April 14, 5:29 p.m.
De Anza College president Omar Torres resigned, said Chancellor Lee Lambert via an email sent to De Anza employees on the morning of April 13.
Torres’s reason for resignation was “to focus on family,” Foothill-De Anza District Director of Community and Government Relations Ellen Kamei wrote in an email to La Voz.
His leave of absence started in March and was set to end on June 30.
Academic Senate acting president Shagun Kaur said the hiring committee selected an interim president at its afternoon April 13 meeting.
“The fact that we will be recruiting for a new full-time, permanent president soon only came to light as of this morning,” Vice President of Instruction Ram Subramaniam said at the meeting.
Lambert will present his prospective interim president to the Foothill-De Anza Board of Trustees at a special meeting on April 17. He has not revealed the candidates name, and he will present it while the board is in closed session, meaning members of the public cannot attend.
“We will conduct a search for a permanent president,” Lambert wrote in his email. “I will share more details on that timeline as they become available.”
Subramaniam assumed leadership of the college as administrator in charge on March 9, then Lambert took control on March 17.
However, Lambert could not continue as interim president without violating the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior College’s requirements; that started the college’s search for an interim president.
“I think the one thing we can do during disruption is be patient,” computer science professor Sukhjit “Bob” Singh said. “It’s very easy to get impatient.”
Torres started his job on Jan. 6, 2025 and began his term with ‘100 days of listening.’
“Omar brought energy, commitment and genuine care,” Lambert wrote. “I am grateful for his contributions to the district and wish him well.”
According to a 2024 report by the Community College League of California, the average community college president serves five years.
“We as a body collectively have a lot of resilience,” Kaur said. “It is only when things get disrupted and shaken up that change and growth can happen without losing who we are.”
