Drummond To Run L.A. Community Colleges Ex-President Of Ewu Will Be Chancellor Of Nine-Campus System

The nation’s largest two-year college system has a new leader.

Marshall Drummond, who resigned the presidency of Eastern Washington University last year while facing faculty censure, was named chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District on Wednesday by the Board of Trustees.

Drummond, 57, will start in July. He replaces interim Chancellor James L. Heinselman, who is retiring.

The district, which has nine campuses and 100,000 students, has struggled with financial woes and political squabbles. After a series of reforms, it expects to post a budget surplus at the end of the year after years of deficits blamed on stagnant enrollment and faculty raises.

“We need a visionary, an effective manager, and a community leader,” and Drummond fits the description, said Beth Garfield, president of the trustees.

Drummond said he has heard dire assessments of the district “but that only encouraged me more.”

Community colleges, he added, “are the ones to change people’s lives. … They really make society better. They have the recent immigrants, people just out of prison. … They are a wonderful, uplifting experience.”

“L.A. is one of the top five most exciting, vibrant places in the world,” Drummond told The Los Angeles Times for a story published in today’s editions.

“It’s up there with Manhattan and Paris. There are a lot of positive things happening here. This college district should be at the forefront.”

After more than seven years as EWU president, Drummond resigned in February 1998, four months ahead of his planned departure. At the time, the state Higher Education Coordinating Board had recommended the school cede authority for upper level courses in Spokane to Washington State University. The resignation came just hours before the EWU faculty senate was to consider censuring Drummond for unusual promotions of certain teachers.

Drummond was a tenured professor when he resigned the president’s post. He received $110,000 for a one-year professional leave and was scheduled to return as a teacher this fall.

EWU officials said they assume Drummond will resign his post as a professor at the university if his new post is permanent. But he has not yet contacted them to discuss his plans, EWU spokeswoman Stephanie Pettit said.

“We are pleased that Dr. Drummond has found a challenging position in higher education and wish him well,” said Stephen Jordan, the current EWU president.

Drummond is “very, very bright, extremely well-organized and principled,” said Peter Landsberger, president of the College of San Mateo, where Drummond has done consulting work.

He is “quite savvy … and able to work quite effectively in stressful and politically charged situations,” Landsberger said.

Born in Palo Alto, Calif., he has been an administrator at Chabot College in Hayward, Calif., and at Los Rios Community College District in the Sacramento area. He also worked as a software designer.

Drummond and wife Marcy have a farm near Reardan, Wash., and plan to take their two mules to Los Angeles.

Staff writer Jim Camden contributed to this report.