Joe Garcia Set to Retire from Colorado Community College System

Chancellor Joe Garcia announced his retirement as head of the Colorado Community College System effective June 30, 2025.

Garcia was appointed President of Pikes Peak Community College (now Pikes Peak State College) in 2001. He later became President of Colorado State University-Pueblo (2006–2010). Garcia later served as Colorado’s Lieutenant Governor and Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education (2011–2016).  After his government service, he was appointed Chancellor, overseeing a system of 13 community colleges with more than 35 campus locations.

Prior to entering the higher education space, in 1993, Colorado Governor Roy Romer appointed him as Executive Director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies, where he oversaw statewide consumer protection and business regulation efforts. In 1999, President Bill Clinton appointed Garcia as Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), overseeing programs across the Rocky Mountain states.

Garcia was the first Hispanic partner at the Denver-based law firm Holme Roberts & Owen, where he focused on public education law.

He earned his JD from Harvard Law School.  

Former Law Dean Matt Parlow Named Next President of Chapman University

Matt Parlow, the former Dean of the Chapman’s law school, has been appointed as the 14th President of Chapman University effective September 2, 2025.  He is currently serving as the Executive Vice President, Chief Advancement Officer and the Parker S. Kennedy Chair in Law at the University.

Prior to joining Chapman, Parlow was a professor and associate dean for academic affairs at Marquette University School of Law.  Parlow worked in private practice at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, and also clerked for Jude Pamela Ann Rymer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  He also served in government, working in White House Office of the Legal Counsel.

He earned his JD from Yale Law School.

City University (Seattle) Appoints Suzanne Elise Walsh as Next President

On Thursday, February 27, 2025, attorney Suzanne Elise Walsh became the first woman president of City University in Seattle, WA. She is also the first person of color to lead the 50 year old institution.  

Walsh is an experienced administrator, currently serving as President of HBCU Bennett College in North Carolina.  Prior to Bennett College, Walsh was the deputy director of postsecondary success at the Gates Foundation and held positions at the Lumina Foundation and the Heinz Endowments.

Walsh received both her JD and MSW in social work from Case Western Reserve University.  She joins NYU President Linda Mills as the only currently serving women presidents with both JD and MSW degrees.