Miramar College President Is Named

Jerome Hunter, a seasoned administrator and dean of a continuing education program in the Rancho Santiago Community College District in Santa Ana, on Monday was named president of Miramar College.

Hunter, 43, a political scientist and Vietnam veteran, succeeds George Yee, who resigned after 12 years as president to follow his wife, who received a promotion with General Dynamics and was transferred to St. Louis.

“To me, this is kind of a next logical move,” said Hunter, who was chosen by the board of trustees of the San Diego Community College District. “I’ve been working in the mid-levels for six to seven years. This is an ideal situation to move into a presidency.”

Hunter, who will begin his term Oct. 1, has been an administrator in the Rancho Santiago district for 12 years. Since 1985, he has been dean of the district’s continuing education program, which enrolls more than 35,000 students each year.

Hunter, who is black, beat out two women for the presidency. The choice of Hunter came after a declaration by District Chancellor Bill Wenrich that, despite the mainly white makeup of the community surrounding the college, he would more aggressively recruit qualified minority administrators.

Miramar College opened in 1969 near Miramar Naval Air Station as a police and fire academy. Despite an ambitious master plan, however, the college’s 120 acres today are relatively undeveloped. Many of the college’s 8,000 students attend classes off campus.

But $33 million in construction--including a 19-classroom building, a 30-acre athletic complex, a library and a new police academy--over the next five years could increase enrollment to 30,000, a spokesman for the district said.