Cindy Miles Shows Her True Colors at 50th Anniversary of Grossmont College

Cindy Miles, La Mesa resident and chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, was a tie-dyed diva Monday at Grossmont College’s convocation marking the September 1961 founding of the school, which held its first classes at Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley.

Grossmont President Sunita “Sunny” Cooke told hundreds of staff members, many in hippie garb:  “We start every year with a convocation like this, where we welcome back faculty who may have been gone for an entire summer, but this year is particularly special because we are celebrating our 50th anniversary.”

NBC San Diego quoted Cooke as saying: “We are trying to keep the spirits up given the tough budget times that we are facing and the impact of that on our college.”

Robert Sanchez, photo editor for the campus website GC Summit, produced a photo essay of the event, highlighting “a flashback to the 1960s, with tie-dyed outfits recalling the era of hippies, flower children and peace signs.”

Sanchez also reported from El Cajon:

Among highlights of the convocation were the introduction of eight former faculty members who had been on Grossmont College’s original faculty of 1961; reports by Chancellor Miles and President Cooke;  stretching exercises to relieve any stiffness from sitting on bleacher seats; and the announcement that Janice Johnson had been selected as distinguished faculty of the year.

By the time everyone took their seats in the gymanasium for the formal speeches, it was clear that Kurt Brauer, interim grounds and maintenance supervisor, had the most outrageous of all tie-dyed outfits — and this was later acknowledged with a prize given him during the convocation.

The convocation concluded with a 90-minute presentation by author Vicki Halsey, an associate of motivational speaker Ken Blanchard, on ways that faculty members could better engage their students and get them interested in the subject matter.  One tip: those who teach learn best, meaning that students who are placed in a position to instruct others in the information will better assimilate it themselves.