Dr. Keith Curry loves walking around the campus of Compton College, the two-year school he has led for the past 13 years, two as interim president and CEO and 11 as permanent leader.
On a January day, Curry, who grew up a short distance from the university, greets groundwork staff and buttonhole maintenance staff about the latest developments happening across campus.
There is much to celebrate. Construction crews are spread out across the 83-acre campus 15 miles south of Los Angeles. More than $118 million has been invested in renovation and new building projects. Curry also secured millions of dollars for student success initiatives. It's proof that the university is thriving thanks to Curry, who was the school's most vocal cheerleader.
It is no secret that Compton College has had its fair share of challenges. In 2005, long before Curry took the helm, the Commission on Community and Junior College Accreditation revoked the school's accreditation, citing financial instability. This was a huge blow to the university. The school ultimately became a satellite campus of El Camino Community College District in 2006, but has since regained accreditation and independence.
Throughout her time, Curry has focused on expanding equity for students, with particular attention to food and housing insecurity, issues that impact many students.
In partnership with the Los Angeles County Food Bank, Compton College offers a mobile food pantry. Last year, we launched a popular Farmer's Market on campus, giving each student $20 a week to purchase fresh food and vegetables. The market regularly attracts more than 700 students and plans are underway to build student accommodation on campus. He said he also wants to build a 24-hour urgent care facility on campus.
“Students stay in class because of food resources,” says Curry, who is working with other community college leaders across the country to replicate Compton’s successful model. “What should we do when students living in on-campus dormitories get sick and are told to ‘go in the morning’?”
Curry says he wants Compton College to be the most visible community college in the country, a leader in meeting the basic needs of its students.
“If I can meet your basic needs and get you here because of your basic needs, I can get you out of here,” he says.
It's this kind of attention that has earned Curry widespread praise as a transformational leader.
“Keith is committed to the daily work of supporting students and the communities that love them, always asking the hardest questions and saying the quiet parts out loud,” says renowned researcher and author Sara Goldrick-Rab, Ph.D. Paying the Price: College Tuition, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream. “He is why Americans must have hope for higher education and advocate for greater investment in leaders who walk what they preach.”
Goldrick-Rab says what started as a partnership with Curry developed into a deep friendship.
“He is a real-life equity avenger, fighting injustice 24/7 and setting an example for all of us,” she says.
Path to the Presidency
Growing up in Compton, there was no doubt that the youngest child, Curry, would go to college. At age 19, he headed to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he created a program called “Destination Higher Education,” a student-led outreach program for admitted African-American students, giving students the opportunity to learn more about the institution. And network with other students.
The transition to college wasn't easy. Curry recalls failing one class and remembers his English instructor telling him he was unlikely to graduate college because he was not a good writer.
He says such criticism forced him to work harder. He didn't want to return home without a degree.
After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Curry took a job at the University of California Irvine's Education Partnership Center and volunteered in the Compton Unified School District, helping students transition to college.
In 2005, Curry took an entry-level position in student services at Compton College, ultimately rising through the leadership ranks to become interim president in 2011.
He says he is focused on seeing all construction projects through to completion over the next five to 10 years to ensure students and the surrounding community have access to state-of-the-art facilities. He has plans to build housing on campus for his employees in the future.
“If you can’t afford to buy a home or live in a community, you’re not going to attract people of color,” Curry says. “When we talk about equity, it’s not just equity for students, it’s equity for staff.”
Curry would like to see enrollment, currently hovering around 7,000 students, grow to about 13,000, and said more could be done to strengthen the transfer pipeline. He added that the partnership between Compton College and California State University Dominguez Hills has been successful over the years.
A new dual enrollment program will soon allow local high school students to take classes not only at Compton College, but also at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
“Every student is a success story,” says Curry. “Our job is to help build that story. That means having systems and structures in place to help students succeed.”
listen to what others have to say
Curry said he knows many of his students may not be able to transfer to four-year colleges, and that's okay. But he said he wants to give them the skills they need to compete in the workplace.
“We said, ‘This is our specialty. 'How does this major connect with my job?' How do we get companies to look at our curriculum and say, ‘This is what we’re looking for in our future employees,’ and have faculty connect that to our curriculum?”
Curry isn't just talking about career and technical education (CTE) programs.
“Workforce development is what our program is all about,” he said, adding that the restructuring of the university’s Guided Pathways program has proven successful.
Curry says that, above all else, his role requires him to listen not only to students, but also to employees, employers and members of the surrounding community.
His bold approach did not win everyone over. He survived a vote of no confidence by the school's Academic Senate.
“Sometimes it’s frustrating when you’re trying to do what’s fair and focus on student success,” he says. “I don’t take any of this personally. I focus on what is important, and that is our students. Because for some of our students, we are their last hope. This is it.”
Curry was honored by Dr. Peralta Community College District's president. Tammeil Gilkerson and President Emeritus of San Diego Mesa College, Dr. We join forces with Pamela Luster. The trio calls themselves the Equity Avengers.
The three seek to “engage, educate, and empower higher education institutions and individuals to eliminate gaps in student opportunity and outcomes by fostering the partnerships and resources necessary to embed racial equity, critical humility, and learning throughout our system.” We have been carrying out our mission of “doing this.”
Luster, now president and CEO of Luster Higher Ed Group, says Equity Avengers was born through leadership and relationship building.
“When Keith’s entrepreneurial approach to advocacy met my experience in administration, student services, and education, we recognized a mutual willingness and commitment to disrupt the status quo,” she says. “This energized our partnership and developed it into a continuum of what is happening today. Creating a movement requires a leader who knows how to build relationships, and Keith Curry is that leader.”
Gilkerson agrees.
“Equity leadership requires vision and putting students and the community at the center with a commitment to always listen and approach with humility,” Gilkerson says. “No one emulates this better than Keith Curry, a 12-year-old ball boy from Compton who is now President/CEO of Compton College and a nationally recognized leader in higher education and advancing racial equity.”