On April 29, Laney College President Rudy Besikof announced his selection of Lily Espinoza for Vice President of Student Services and Ashish Sahni for Vice President of Administrative Services, pending board approval.

Public forums were held on campus and on zoom on April 8 and 9, where the finalist candidates for Vice President of Students Services and Vice President of Administrative Services were able to introduce themselves and answer questions from the board.

Lily Espinoza was one of three finalists for the student services position, along with Heather French, Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students at UC Merced, and Blas Guerrero, Vice President Educational Partnerships, Services and Programs at Amistad Associates. 

Espinoza is currently the Assistant Director of the Science Internship Program at UC Santa Cruz. She is a California native and community college alumni who now holds a variety of graduate degrees in education. 

During her public forum on April 8, Espinoza stated the importance of diversifying leadership to prevent burn-out and ensure a more comprehensive representation. She advocated for evaluating current leadership structures by considering factors like term limits, rotation, and leadership development pathways.

Espinoza will take over the position from Marlon Hall, Acting Vice President of Student Services.

Ashish Sahni, Besikof’s pick for Vice President of Administrative Services, was Executive Director of the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) at UC Berkeley from 2021 until 2023.

Incumbent Dativa “Dettie” Del Rosario, who was appointed Interim Vice President of Administrative Services over two years ago, was the only other finalist who attended the public forums for the role. 

Sahni has held leadership roles at various local colleges and universities, including Contra Costa College and UC Berkeley, UCSF, and UC Santa Cruz. He has a Bachelor of Economics from UC Berkeley, a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University, and a professional certificate from the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University. Additionally, he has experience as a Budget Analyst at the White House Office of Management and Budget. 

Sahni expressed during his forum that his extensive prior experience will bring positive results not only in student advocacy but also in managing budgeting, and that this is “a very comfortable challenge.” He believes in encouraging leaders, empowering shared governance, and that for doing this job, “you need passion, you need to care.”

More details will be provided closer to the candidates’ start dates, Besikof stated in the email. 

Besikof thanked Hall and Del Rosario for their service in these positions for the past two years.

The appointments are not on the meeting agenda for the upcoming May 14 Board of Trustees meeting at time of writing.

Read More:

• Finalists for Laney VP of Student Services share plans for student success
• Laney announces finalists for two VP positions

Romi Bales and Desmond Meagley contributed reporting.

This article was updated at 2:33 p.m. to reflect that the appointments are not yet on the board agenda.