John Romo

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Hanging out in this town with John Romo, the retiring president of Santa Barbara City College, is like being with a rock star or a TV personality. You simply can’t walk a single block or sit down for a cup of coffee without someone coming up to shake hands with him or, more often, give him a hug. It’s as if the whole town knows and loves the guy. So how is it that a street kid from Pomona, California, has become such a popular fixture in our city? Perhaps it’s because for the last 30 years, John has been an omnipresent figure for the 50,000 to 60,000 undergraduate and adult-education students who attend the college each year. Maybe it’s because John’s idea of a good time is to leave his office and roam the campus, talking to students and faculty about what does and does not work at the school. Most likely, it’s because John Romo is one heck of a nice fellow.

The eldest of four Mexican-American kids from the wrong side of the tracks in Pomona, John and his family appreciated the fact that education was the key to success in this country, enabling him to grow up to become the head of arguably the finest community college in the world. His father, a radar technician during World War II, ran a successful radio and television repair shop. Neither he nor John’s mother had college educations, but they encouraged their children to pursue degrees. Thus, John was one of only a dozen kids in his graduating high school class to go to college. While attending the University of Redlands, he accomplished three major feats. First, he became a German major, mastering the language. Studying in Austria, he took time to hitchhike all over Europe. Second, John — relatively small in stature — played defensive end for Redlands’ football team. Lastly, and most importantly, he met his wonderful wife-to-be, Mary, also a student at Redlands.

The study skills he learned at home paid off, and he graduated with honors and graduate fellowship offers to Harvard, and to UCSB. Fortunately for us, he chose to stay in California. After his first quarter of grad school, John came to the startling realization that he no longer wanted to be a German scholar, as he had discovered a new passion in teaching. So John started over, becoming a substitute teacher in the Goleta elementary school system. For the next five years, Dick Jamgochian — head of UCSB’s teacher education program — took John under his wing. Under Jamgochian’s mentorship, John quickly realized that this was where he was supposed to be.

Aside from a brief stint working for Planned Parenthood in New York City, John has been involved with education in Santa Barbara for more than 30 years. During these three decades, he has worked as an assistant dean, dean of fine arts, dean of social sciences, vice president of academic affairs, and vice president of Adult Education at Santa Barbara City College. As the head of the college, he had to face a number of daunting crises, principal among them being substantial budget cuts by the state. The economic turmoil that our state now faces is reflected in the drastic reduction in monies available for education. This has put a severe crimp on John’s ambitious plans to help SBCC remain the amazing institution it is, but he is not one to back down. In spite of the crisis, he and his team have been able to put together a number of impressive programs, including a new School of Media Arts that will provide Santa Barbarans with the necessary skill-sets to find great jobs in the digital era.

Having worked since he was eight years old, John’s retirement next month is well-deserved. He will miss his rewarding walks around campus, learning at the ground level what issues face his school, but he’ll still be a vital part of the Santa Barbara community. If you see him on the street, feel free to say hi and to thank him and let him know how valuable your education has been.

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