Soraya M. Coley, M.S.S. ’74, Ph.D. ’81, announced in February that she would be stepping down as president of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and retiring at the end of July. When she was appointed to the role in 2015, she became the first woman and first African American president of the institution.
Coley earned her master's and doctoral degrees from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research after graduating from Lincoln University.
"To attend Bryn Mawr, after having grown up in the segregated South, was a fundamentally transformative experience for me," Coley says. "My time on campus and in the classrooms offered me a pathway to new perspectives. The College provided me with the tools and wisdom to rise to each challenge I faced with purpose, intent on fighting for the kind of world I wanted to be in. I learned what it meant to lead with integrity. To never settle for what’s now and always push for what’s next. Most of all, I carried the joys and struggles of lifelong learning. That facing the world with curiosity outside of yourself eventually opens the most doors."
During Coley's tenure, Cal Poly Pomona enhanced student success through critical investments in academic advising, programs to increase belonging and promote thriving, the development of the CARE Center, essential basic needs services, and other critical resources. Coley made investments in campus facilities including new student housing that allowed hundreds of additional students to live on campus, established a philanthropic board, and strengthened university partnerships.
“I dedicated my efforts to improving the lives and futures of our students,” Coley wrote in an email to the campus community. “Watching them grow and flourish filled my heart and focused my work on contributing to building a university that would help them achieve their dreams, no matter their circumstances or backgrounds.”
California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia praised Coley's student-centered approach and commitment to providing opportunity to students from diverse and historically underserved communities, calling her a "bold, purposeful and ethical leader."
While more than 60,000 students have graduated during Coley's tenure, she is looking forward to celebrating their accomplishments at one more commencement, an event she says holds "a special place in my heart."
"Our university is the most diverse polytechnic in the nation, with 55 percent of our students being first-generation college students, 51 percent receiving Pell Grants, and 72 percent receiving financial aid," she says. "So, to be out there, immersed in a sea of families and loved ones cheering on thousands of hard-working students every May who have just completed one of the most valuable journeys of their lifetimes—and to see each student beam as they tell me about their triumphs over adversity—is simply the best part of my year. That one event embodies the totality of everything we work for and why it’s all so important."