With the presidential search complete and the forums finished. The Board of Trustees is tasked with selecting a new superintendent/president for El Camino, for the first time in 20 years.

After attending all of the presidential forums and hearing what the candidates had to say The Union met to discuss the possibility of endorsing one of the finalists.

The editorial board came to the decision that there wasn’t one perfect candidate and recognized that there would never be just one perfect candidate.

However, one finalist did come close and The Union would like to formally endorse JoAnna Downey-Schilling, vice president of academic affairs and assistant superintendent at Cerritos College, as the next president of EC.

We didn’t reach this decision lightly. After much talk and deliberation the ed board concluded that Downey-Schilling is the best candidate for the job.

Why Downey-Schilling?

That’s simple, she was the only candidate who said she expected a “standard of excellence” from the students and staff on campus.

During Downey-Schilling’s public forum she said she wanted to challenge students and staff everyday and that she expected the same in return.

When people are challenged to push past current standards and strive for excellence, in Downey-Schillings case, they have the potential to create an improved and successful environment.

The president of this college should understand not only the needs of students and staff but the community as a whole.

During the presidential forums all the candidates discussed what they would want to improve on the campus if they were selected to be president.

The most common and frequent topics included: increasing student success, boosting employee morale and community involvement. Every candidate gave similar answers just in a different form.

The president of the college shouldn’t want the same as everyone else but instead have the ability to obtain a vision that goes beyond their term at EC.

In addition, it’s vital to have a president who listens and values the opinions of others on campus.

A leader is nothing without a team and after hearing Downey-Schilling express her view on the importance of teamwork we believe she can lead us into a bright future.

Another factor that we took into consideration was when she talked about school pride.

No other candidate stressed the importance of school pride.

“EC is a place of pride,” Downey-Schilling said. “We are proud to be Warriors. We are proud to work here and we are proud to go here.”

That was the moment she got our vote.

Considering that EC’s mission statement states the five core values of the school are people, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence it makes sense to have a passionate leader who recognizes and understands that.

We are not saying that Downey-Schilling is the perfect candidate for president because let’s face it, there will never be a perfect president.

All we can ask for is someone who believes in our school, is willing to go the extra mile to ensure we strive for excellence and would be proud to call themselves a Warrior.