In four years as president of West Los Angeles College when he grew the school into an unprecedented player in Culver City, Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh never was accused of being unprepared.
In his first interview since announcing last Thursday he was leaving for the helm of Grossmont College, San Diego, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh was keenly on point.
Why Grossmont? How did it come about?
“It’s kind of like when a girl gets pregnant,” he said wittily. “It’s not a surprise how it happened.”
Because the pacesetting Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh’s straight answer was, “I applied.”
The question of what appeals to the Jordan native about San Diego was even easier.
“There are two elements here,” he said. “You might imagine that in an interview, a college wants to hear not about the community and how beautiful it is, but about the quality of the institution one is going to. That is important to me.
“Grossmont College is fairly sizable, 18 or 19,000 students (twice West’s enrollment). So that is professional growth for me. Very diverse communities and student populations,” said Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh. “Grossmont offers a broad-based academic program, highly evolved, co-curricular activities that bring faculty and students together, powerful health sciences and career programs that make for an appealing involvement with the professional community and the community of service.”
Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh’s move also is family-motivated.
“I have a lot of family in San Diego,” the West L.A. College president said.
“I went to college at UCSD and got my first two degrees there. A lot of history there. Although I left 28 years ago, there remains a lot of connection with the community.”
As the Four Freshman, off in the distance, sing the traditional “Graduation Day,” President Abu-Ghazaleh, whose personal title soon will change, said something similar.
“It will always boil down to Graduation Day,” he said, “no matter what we do about the victories and challenges.
“Graduation Day is about looking out there and seeing a sampling because obviously we graduate people and some people just minimal course work they need to keep a job, maintain a skillset or learn something new. Commencement Day is symbolic of all the successes we have with our students. I have had three of those (here), and the fourth will be unique.”
Graduation Day at West will be memorable for a more personal reason for Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh.
“I will actually be graduating with my students. My doctoral committee chair is coming to the ceremony” to officially and publicly award Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh’s doctorate in education.
A time for joy and a time for tears, as the song goes.
