Board Reports

Reports to the Board of Trustees

Each month, Interim President Coon gives a report on college activities, honors and achievements during the regular meeting of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees.

For previous reports, please see the board reports archive.

board reports archive

Board Meeting of July 13, 2026

This month's report includes items on:
Graduation 59th Annual Commencement End-of-Year Celebrations	Leadership A Fond Farewell to Randy Bryant, and a Welcome to Aaron Korngeibel
Student Success Lights, Camera, Accomplishments! Creative Writing Wins Journalism Students Scoop Up Awards Challenge Accepted! Students Place in Innovation Competition Phi Beta Lambda Members Excel at Conference	Honors and Recognitions President's Awards for Outstanding Service Lisa Mandy Receives Toni Award Trustee Scholarship Winner
In the News Ceramics Instructor Featured in Edible Monterey Bay	Around Campus Pre-Finals De-Stress Break Tennis and Pickleball Courts Ready to Serve

Graduation

59th Annual Commencement

Grads toss their caps in the air

De Anza held its 59th annual commencement celebration on campus on Saturday, June 27. It was a jubilant and meaningful event for everyone in attendance — our graduates, of course, but also their friends and families, as well as college and district faculty, staff, administrators and leadership. Watching our students cross the stage to receive their hard-earned degrees and certificates was a powerful reminder of the value of our work.

About 700 students attended the ceremony, which we held on campus in the Stadium and Track after several years of being at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Thousands of family members and other well-wishers were in the audience, packing the field, bleachers and sidelines.

All told, nearly 1,100 students graduated from De Anza this year, and we awarded more than 900 degrees, as well as nearly 400 certificates.

Trustees Peter Landsberger, Pearl Cheng, Laura Casas, Terry Godfrey and Alexander Gvatua, as well as Chancellor Lee Lambert and Vice Chancellors Christopher Dela Rosa and Gojar Momjian, attended the ceremony, which was truly a collegewide undertaking, including:

Classified professionals, who volunteered to help guide students, answer questions and provide other support
Custodial and grounds staff, who worked before, during and after the event
Faculty members and deans, who were seated on stage

You can view photos from the celebration at deanza.edu/graduation. Also, see the End-of-Year Celebrations item below for more graduation photos.

Student Success

Lights, Camera, Accomplishments!

We have exciting news from Milena Grozeva, Film/Television Department chair, about our Film/TV students’ transfer information and accomplishments.

This year, we have one student admitted to the highly competitive USC School of Cinematic Arts in film production, another student accepted at UC Berkeley’s Film & Media Studies, and another headed to Columbia University for screenwriting.

Several students will continue their education at the renowned animation program at San Jose State University. Two students will pursue competitive tracks in cinematography and audio at CSU Northridge. And many others are going on to UCs, arts schools and other colleges and universities.

These achievements offer a summary of what an excellent education at De Anza College can provide for our students.

Creative Writing Wins

We also have great news from Thomas Ray, dean of Language Arts, about our award-winning creative writing students and program.

Foothill-De Anza Community College District had winners in the League for Innovation's 2025-2026 International Student Literary Awards competition:

Ingrid Lu was chosen as the first-place winner in the category of Fictional Short Story for “Miss Baiji.”
Brooklyn Hadre was chosen as the second-place winner in the category of Poetry for “Three Kinds of Grief.”

Ingrid will receive a check for $500 and Brooklyn will receive a check for $200. Both students also receive a certificate of recognition for their work, and their pieces are published in the annual winner's anthology.

Red Wheelbarrow art And, the Language Arts Division announced the winners of its 2026 Red Wheelbarrow Awards in the categories of fiction, art and poetry, and launched the Red Wheelbarrow student edition on June 24. Hosted by Jen Penkethman’s editing students, many of the award winners and other talented students read from their creative work. First-, second- and third-place winners received scholarships of $150, $100 and $50, respectively.

Journalism Students Scoop Up Awards

2025 CNPA winners And more headlines: De Anza took home 17 awards, with five first-place finishes, six second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in the 2025 California Journalism Awards Campus Division, announced by the California News Publishers Association on June 16, 2026.

This was the highest number of awards received by any community college in California.

View the winners’ gallery online.

Challenge Accepted! Students Place in Innovation Competition

Students Mia Lin and Van Hoc Nguyen won third place in the 2026 American Association of Community Colleges Innovation Challenge for creating STEM-based solutions to real world problems.

Mentored by Dean Mehrdad Khosravi, the students created a micro-buoy project, which would detect humans in bodies of water to improve rescue efforts.

Phi Beta Lambda Members Excel at Conference

Phi Beta Lambda members at the FBLA National Leadership Conference Congratulations to De Anza's Phi Beta Lambda chapter for their incredible performance at the FBLA National Leadership Conference, held June 6-8 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The team earned six first-, second- and third-place placements — especially impressive considering more than 1,300 students competed at the conference.

In the News

Ceramics Instructor Featured in Edible Monterey Bay

Edible Monterey spread featuring Gold Dot Roasting Ceramics instructor Rocky Lewycky was featured in Edible Monterey Bay magazine for co-creating his coffee and ceramics side business Gold Dot Roasting of Boulder Creek — a company that combines coffee and pottery.

He recognizes De Anza in the feature. You can read the full article online (page 6) — preferably with a cup of coffee!

Leadership

A Fond Farewell to Randy Bryant, and a Welcome to Aaron Korngeibel

We celebrated the retirement of Randy Bryant, vice president of Workforce Innovation and Economic Advancement, on June 11 with light refreshments and remarks in the Fireside Room.

Randy has made an incredible impact across our college community, and it was an honor to recognize his dedication and many contributions.

On July 9, Interim President Coon announced the appointment of Aaron Korngeibel as Randy's successor. Aaron most recently served as Dean of Business & Social Sciences at Foothill College, a role he has held since 2022. Aaron will join De Anza on August 3. You can read more about him in Interim President Coon's announcement to the campus.

We're wishing Randy the best in his next chapter, and we look forward to welcoming Aaron to the team.

Above top: Randy Bryant; below: Aaron Korngeibel

Honors and Recognitions

President's Awards for Outstanding Service

The annual President's Award for Outstanding Service honors De Anza employees who have provided exceptional service to the college and its students.

Pippa Gibson, Manisha Karia, Lisa Ly and Flora Payne were selected in the categories of executive assistant, administrator, classified professional and faculty member.

Pippa Gibson

Pippa Gibson

Manisha Karia

Manisha Karia

Lisa Ly

Lisa Ly

Flora Payne

Flora Payne

Lisa Mandy Receives Toni Award

Lisa Mandy, director of Financial Aid, was awarded the statewide Toni Award from the California Community College Student Financial Aid Administrators Association.

The Toni Awards recognize recipients for their leadership and service on the executive board or as a regional representative.

Congrats, Lisa!

Trustee Scholarship Winner

Phu An Nguyen was the De Anza recipient of the Trustee Scholarship, recognized at the June 8, 2026, board meeting.

The Foothill-De Anza Board of Trustees Scholarship recognizes one returning De Anza student each year for outstanding academic achievement and continued commitment to their education.

The $1,500 scholarship is awarded to a student with a strong academic record who plans to enroll at De Anza the following academic year, with finalists selected through an interview with members of the Board of Trustees.

Above: Phu An Nguyen, fourth from left (in glasses), with trustees and Foothill scholarship winners.

Around Campus

Pre-Finals De-Stress Break

A therapy dog at the de-stress event Students took a much-needed break from studying for finals to de-stress with therapy animals, a basketball machine and crafts at the De Anza Student Government - DASG Senate de-stress day on June 16 in Student Council Chambers.

Several sweet dogs joined students for belly rubs and play time — a great way to relieve tension during an intense week. You can watch a fun video of the event by our communications team on Facebook.

Tennis and Pickleball Courts Ready to Serve

Tennis courts Picklers rejoice!

The tennis and pickleball courts resurfacing project, which started on June 10, is now complete, with work wrapping up on June 25. The project has been a long time coming, so it’s certainly something to celebrate. Tennis (or pickleball), anyone?

Graduation, Cont.

End-of-Year Celebrations

Finally, we held a number of year-end celebrations in the weeks leading up to our collegewide graduation ceremony. It was great to see so many of our programs and Learning Communities celebrate their amazing students. These events included: