Interim Chancellor Carla Walter resigns

Interim Chancellor steps down after eight months on the job, cites ‘personal reasons’

Jacquelyn Opalach, David Rowe, and Luke Wrin Piper

March 17, 2021

Dr. Carla Walter, Interim Chancellor of the Peralta Community College District (PCCD), unexpectedly resigned her position today citing “personal reasons” and listing her accomplishments over the past 8 months. The resignation will take effect April 15. (Photo courtesy of PCCD’s YouTube channel.)

Peralta Community College District (PCCD) Interim Chancellor Dr. Carla Walter announced today that she is resigning her post as both interim chancellor and as vice chancellor of finance and administration, effective April 15, after eight months on the job.

Walter’s contract as interim chancellor was recently extended until June 30, 2021, with her previous contract expiring on February 28, 2021. Walter had been appointed to the position of interim chancellor on October 1, 2020.

Walter was appointed as Acting Chancellor on July 18, 2020. She was appointed as the Interim Chancellor by the Board of Trustees on September 29, 2020. Walter was presumed to be a candidate for the full-time Chancellor role. The district is in the middle of the search process for that position and selected AGB Search on January 12 of this year to help manage the process.

In a March 17 message to students, faculty and staff, Board President Cynthia Napoli-Abella Reiss cited “personal reasons” as the basis for Walter’s resignation.

The message went on to tout progress in several areas during Walter’s time as interim chancellor including the district’s financial stability, support of college and district leadership, internal evaluation efforts in regards to accreditation and working with Cambridge West to increase data integrity.

Walter’s resignation comes at a time when Peralta is being closely watched by California Community Colleges (CCC) Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. CCC Vice Chancellor for Communications Paul Feist told The Citizen on March 17 that Oakley will address Walter’s resignation in a report to the Board of Governors this Monday, March 22, but “has no comment at this time.”

After former chancellor Regina Stanback Stroud resigned abruptly in July and Walter took her place, Oakley told the district to hire a permanent chancellor by March of 2021, with a state takeover potentially at stake. Although that goal has not been met, a nationwide search for the district’s next leader is currently in motion.

No special board of trustees meeting has been called in order to pick a new interim chancellor. The decision is set to be made at the next coming regular board of trustees meeting on March 23.

This is a developing story. We will update this page as new information comes in.

About the Contributors

Jacquelyn Opalach, Features Editor

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Jacquelyn Opalach is a student reporter who has been pursuing journalism since she was 15. Opalach is particularly passionate about the safety net that journalism provides for small communities, and is interested in the intersection of ethical reporting and investigative journalism. When she isn’t scoping out a new story, Opalach is likely sampling out a new recipe in the kitchen, forever trying to satisfy her insatiable sweet tooth.

David Rowe, Associate Editor

After a 40 year career in advertising, David is considering journalism as his “second act” and preparing himself for that new profession by taking classes at Laney. During his days in advertising, Rowe headed up the media departments for a number of leading ad agencies in San Francisco and Salt Lake City. In this capacity, he was responsible for the planning and placement of tens of millions of dollars of paid media. A high point of his career was placing Intel’s first Super Bowl TV ad in 1997. Rowe has a lifelong interest in journalism dating back to high school in San Jose where he started an underground newspaper called, appropriately enough, The Del Mar Free Press. The school administration threatened to suspend him, so Rowe, with the help of his attorney father, sued the school district in Federal Court and won and injunction. Ultimately, the case was decided in his favor and California state law regarding the rights of high school students was re-written as a result. Rowe is a political junkie who enjoys watching all the Sunday morning news programs and is actively involved in the Joe Biden presidential campaign this year.

Luke Wrin Piper, Consulting Editor

Luke Wrin Piper began writing for The Citizen in 2019. Starting at the sports desk, his focus has expanded into politics, art, activism, crime and all the ways they intersect here in the 510. The people and culture of the East Bay have never failed to fascinate him and he hopes to bottle that local lightning for The Citizen. He thinks there’s never been a better time to be alive, especially for journalists.