It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr. Chui Tsang as the next President of Santa Monica College. Fingers have been tightly crossed for weeks, ever since the final three candidates spoke at he public forums in mid-November. We compliment the Trustees on their wise decision, and on the fairness and transparency of the entire process. This has been a shining moment in the history of the school.

Dr. Tsang's credentials and history will be widely available as you read this, so rather than reiterate them, we would like to describe a few of the moments during the open forums that won us over. These are random, personal observations, signs, we hope, of things to come.

Our positive impression began with the first moment we saw him, and he saw some of us as we stood in front of the entrance to the Pavilion carrying picket signs about the contract negotiations. His immediate reaction was to go up to each one of us and shake our hand and introduce himself. The other two candidates ran for cover. As it wasn't so much courage as curiosity that drove him -- he was wondering what was going on and went up to us to ask. You have to like someone like that, especially at a school like this.

Later, in his response to one of the questions, he noted that he had his office right in the center of campus, unlike some former Presidents we could think of, and when he felt discouraged or troubled, he would routinely go outside and just talk to a student, and the enthusiasm and energy thus derived would send him back to work refreshed. That's more or less how this school works for all of us faculty, and it's comforting to know it will work that way for our next President -- especially if he moves his office back to the main campus.

Lastly, we were impressed by his honest answer to one of the most difficult of the questions: What mistakes have you made as a leader, and what have you learned from them? He thought for a moment or two, then said that in his earlier years as President of San Jose City College, he often found himself thinking through a problem, and going forward with the solution, without working long enough and hard enough to build a sufficient coalition of support for it. Even if you're right, it doesn't work that way in a collegial environment. Amen, Dr. Tsang. Amen.

In sum, Dr. Chui Tsang is, in our opinion, a gentleman and a scholar, and we are proud and pleased that has been chosen as the next President of our College. Welcome home, Dr. Tsang, from all of us here at SMC.