Four years ago, as I thought about running for a seat on the PCC Board of Trustees, I had no inkling that my first term would be dominated by a deadly pandemic virus. None of us was prepared for what happened, of course. But, looking back, I am very proud of the way our college community stepped up to meet the challenge. It is still too early to claim victory, but not too soon to say that PCC has been remarkably successful in coping with an historic crisis.

Helping lead PCC’s unified, effective response has been both hard work and highly rewarding. Yet in some ways the biggest challenge has been maintaining focus on the issues that caused me to run in the first place. I came to this job with some clear goals for the college and I’m pleased to report that, despite the pandemic’s emergencies, we’ve made great progress:

• After a decade of mismanagement and revolving-door presidencies, PCC now has stable leadership at the top.
• After landing on probation and flirting with loss of accreditation, PCC has been fully restored to good academic standing.
• After years of delay, PCC is finally replacing seismically unsafe buildings and ending over-dependence “temporary” trailers for classrooms.
• PCC is financially strong and emerging from the pandemic with its fine reputation intact.

I am proud of that record, and I believe we can do even better in the future. That’s why I’ve decided to run for re-election. Over the next four years, I want PCC to:

• Maintain a strong focus on academic excellence.
• Improve outreach to the community and enroll more local students.
• Ensure that every PCC student has full opportunity for success.

If you share these goals, I would be honored to have your vote on June 7th. Thank you for your consideration and thank you for your ongoing support of PCC.

Sandra Chen Lau
PCC Trustee