!["From the sheriff's office perspective, we couldn't ask for better," said Major Eben Bratcher, Yuma County Sheriff's Office. "[Reetika] was instrumental in helping us set up the regional academy, and that has been an absolute wonderful resource for us."](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6f12cd0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5046+0+0/resize/880x542!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F87%2F3a%2Fab84ce7243b39803f6e89061127e%2Fc10a9963.jpg)
After three weeks as president of Arizona Western College, Dr. Reetika Dhawan has officially received a warm Yuma welcome.
On Wednesday, June 24, community members, dignitaries and industry partners gathered for Dhawan's welcome reception. There, folks from a wide variety of industries and ties to AWC spoke to their hopes for the future of the college under Dhawan's leadership.
"Reetika is one of those people that when she walks into a room, everybody knows her, everybody loves her," said AWC Governing Board President Dennis Booth.
This was evident from the smiles, hugs and even flowers attendees were giving Dhawan at the reception. But nonetheless, KAWC asked folks attending the reception two simple questions to learn what was top of mind for them that day.
Here's what they had to say.
Q: How do you feel about Reetika Dhawan's presidency?
"First of all, first woman — holler! I am so excited to finally see a woman as president for our college campus. I feel like there are some things that need some updating, need some changes, need some things looked at, and I feel like she's going to be the perfect person to make that change. I feel like she's going to be great at repairing and I have really good hopes for her, I really do.
"I think when they announced it, I was so excited because I was like, yes! I feel like she's perfect for this position and I think she's going to really help this college grow."
— Cristina Bloom, AWC student
"This is history, history in the making, and I know Reetika's vision is huge and I can't wait to support her and see it all the way through."
— Carol Smith, Yuma City council member
"She's earned her stripes, so she'll do a good job."
— Tom Hurt, Yuma County superintendent of schools
"I'm absolutely not surprised because she is phenomenal. She really cares about her students. She really listens and takes feedback really well, and she's always interested in getting to know the community and improve it."
— Michaela Loerzel, former student of Dr. Dhawan's
"I'm really excited. I think it's a good fit. She and Dr. Corr worked together for so long and their alignment seems to be Yuma first, and this is what she's all about is just making the community better."
— Shara Whitehead, former president and CEO of Yuma Community Food Bank
"I'm thrilled that Reetika is going into the next phase of her leadership journey, and she and Dr. Corr work seamlessly together to create that vision of where we are now with Arizona Western College. And now to see her — she really thinks outside of the box. Just because something was done one way, is it still the how we should do it today?"
— Shelley Mellon, Yuma Union High School District board member and insurance broker
"I'm actually super excited because of her vision of bringing new programs to AWC — the bachelor's, the doctorate. So her vision so far, just in this very short time, is just immense for what's going to be for Yuma County and south Yuma County. So I think that she has the potential to bring success to Yuma all together, so I'm just extremely proud of her. She's a go-getter and AWC and Yuma is so very lucky to have her."
— Rosa Long, former vice-chairwoman of the Cocopah Indian Tribe
"I'm excited to see what she's going to bring. She's already been here, done great things for the college. So I'm looking forward to working together with her as well."
— Michele Peña, Arizona Legislative District 23 representative
"We're very happy to see Reetika become the president of AWC. We've been in her corner for many years as she was vice president and came up. She's an outstanding and wonderful partner for the community.
"And from the sheriff's office perspective, we couldn't ask for better. She was instrumental in helping us set up the regional academy, and that has been an absolute wonderful resource for us. And so Reetika was the right choice from the beginning, and we are very excited to be here to celebrate this with her."
— Maj. Eben Bratcher, Yuma County Sheriff's Office
Q: What are you most looking forward to with Reetika as AWC president?
"I'm just looking forward to the sunshine that she is. She's going to bring it to everything that she does. And now that my daughter is starting high school, she keeps telling me she can't wait to start taking classes at AWC. So now, very soon, we will be working with her again, enrolling my daughter. So we're very, very happy that she's president now. I'm excited."
— Tanya Wright, homeschool mom and business owner
"That they continue to help the kids of Yuma County, help the high school kids and help everybody getting an education."
— Tom Hurt, Yuma County superintendent of schools
"AWC has an enormous amount of students coming in from all areas, and I think that she sees in herself every student that comes here. She wants them to have the same potential that she has, and now she is the new president of AWC!, so extremely proud of her"
— Rosa Long, former vice-chairwoman of the Cocopah Indian Tribe
"I, as a former teacher who got my degree through ASU — after I went to AWC, they brought ASU Yuma here. I hope that she's somehow able to make the certification process easier by either implementing classes that help you prepare for the exams that you have to take as a teacher, and/or you could actually take a class to get certified. I think that that would be really cool and that would produce more teachers as well."
— Michaela Loerzel, former student of Dr. Dhawan's
"Just the continued collaboration of that K-20 type of concept for Yuma County. Just strengthening the entire education process for all the kids, I think, is a huge benefit, so that's going to be great. And she's got a lot of knowledge, institutional knowledge and experience. And just being able to continue the success and the projects that they were working on and continue growing forward."
— Denis Ponder, Yuma School District One superintendent
"Being able to walk in the wake of all the goodness that she is going to bring."
— Shara Whitehead, former president and CEO of Yuma Community Food Bank
"The camaraderie that we have and just the coalition that we've already built and what she brings to the table; she brings a lot to the city. We're going to be bringing some more training, some jobs, just access to people to get that extra training that they need to be successful."
— Ron Van Why U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground safety director and former law enforcement
"Well with Reetika, we know what we have. She is a known commodity, and we know that she's going to continue to be a strong and innovative partner for not just law enforcement here in the in the community, but the entire community as a whole. Reetika is 100% behind Yuma and we are very excited about that."
— Maj. Eben Bratcher, Yuma County Sheriff's Office
"I can be the first to tell you that the college transformed my life in so many ways, continues to, and so I think it's not just something that's felt here within the district or the region. It's like, it's having really, really big ripple effects. And so I think that under this leadership, it's going to definitely just be able to expand beyond that mission, and then we'd have to find a whole new one."
— Carlos Ramos, AWC alumnus
Dr. Dhawan's Response
After the reception, KAWC took a moment to ask Dhawan the same exact questions. Here's how she replied.
Q: How do you feel now that you're president?
A: "I feel honored, and I feel like I have to work harder. This community had built trust in me, and I had to do so much work to make sure that I will not fail this community. I want to make sure that whatever they deserve, I will deliver. And this is a college of community and I am their servant, and I'm going to do my best for them so that they achieve what they deserve."
Q: What are you most looking forward to as AWC president?
A: "I'm looking forward to making a bigger impact. You know, when you are in a classroom, you make an impact in every single student and then they remember you. This is about the whole community. You want to make sure you change community.
"You transform lives. You transform communities when you do right by the community,and community college is that pillar, is that driver who needs to change lives. And that's what I'm going to do. Make sure that we are working towards making life better for every single community member."
Looking Ahead
At the reception, Dhawan shared a brief outline of her goals for the college, including a 100-day framework.
Some of the audience members later referenced that presentation, stating that they liked Dhawan's goals. One of the favored goals mentioned included beginning four-year degrees at AWC.
In her presentation, Dhawan highlighted two new goals: 3+1 bachelor's pathways with university partners and new on-site bachelor's pathways in nursing, education and applied technology.
"We want to save our community some dollars," she said. "We're going to look at some new bachelor's pathways. We are the only community college who are not offering any bachelor's degrees. So we're going to look at how can we partner with Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and University of Arizona to all the way to doctoral program right here in Yuma."
Dhawan is eyeing a 2027-2028 start for these bachelor's pathways.
As for her vision for the college at large, she'll be presenting a more articulated version at the beginning of the fall semester.
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Note: Arizona Western College is KAWC's license holder.
Reporting for this article is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
