Trustees Select Young to Lead L.A. College District

The Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees on Wednesday chose Darroch “Rocky” Young, a veteran administrator in the nine-college system, to be the next district chancellor.

Young, 57, has been interim senior vice chancellor of the district since 2004 and was previously president at its Pierce College in Woodland Hills. Before that, he was vice president of planning and development at Santa Monica College.

“He’s a fine individual. He’s going to take this district right to the top in this country,” Board of Trustees President Kelly Candaele said in announcing Young’s selection.

Candaele said a deciding factor was that Young was the sole Los Angeles district employee among the three finalists. “The complexity of our district is such that we need somebody to hit the ground running right away,” he said.

After the announcement, Young said he sought the job “because I really do believe in the potential we have as a collection of colleges and as a district.”

He vowed to create vocational programs for high school students at community colleges, to work with businesses eager for skilled employees and to streamline bureaucracy.

Young will be paid $230,000 a year under a three-year contract starting July 1. He also will receive $2,700 a month for car and other expenses, according to Candaele.

As chancellor of the 122,000-student system, Young will oversee the use of $2.2 billion in bond funds to renovate campuses and construct new buildings.

Pierce College President Thomas W. Oliver described Young as an “innovative and agile” administrator.

“He understands that education is a business that needs to be marketed and managed,” Oliver said, noting Young’s success in helping to increase Pierce’s enrollment by offering college-level courses in local high schools.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Young has a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara and a master’s in business administration from UCLA.

District interim Chancellor Peter Landsberger said he decided not to seek the permanent job. The previous chancellor, Mark Drummond, became statewide chancellor 17 months ago.