Clovis Community College president retires, leaving another opening to fill for SCCCD

Lori Bennett, president of Clovis Community College for the past six years, will retire in January 2023, the college announced Tuesday.

Bennett has worked in higher education for almost 30 years as a faculty member and administrator.

“I love our college and our district,” she said in a news release, “but after much discussion, my family and I are ready for a new chapter in my life.”

Bennett’s retirement leaves another open position at State Center Community College following the retirement of Chancellor Paul Parnell in 2021. When Fresno City College President Carole Goldsmith took up that position last year, a search was launched to fill her role at Fresno City. The finalists for the Fresno City College president’s job spoke at a public forum last week.

The district said it would conduct a national search to fill the Clovis president’s role.

Bennett took over the Clovis college in 2016, replacing Deborah Ikeda, who retired. Before coming to the central San Joaquin Valley, Bennett worked at Moorpark College in Southern California for 20 years.

In a statement Tuesday announcing her retirement, SCCCD officials credited Bennett for helping Clovis Community College increase student success and retention rates, which they said helped the school become “one of the fastest growing colleges in the state.”

“The college has been honored several times for high degree completion and transfer rate,” district officials said in the news release.

During Bennett’s tenure as president, the Clovis college added roughly 70 new degrees and certificates, including the development of a new Applied Technology Building, which breaks ground next month.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.