PPCC President Garcia receives national award

Mr. Joseph A. Garcia, president of Pikes Peak Community College, has been awarded the 2006 Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction by the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. The Award of Distinction is the highest honor presented by Phi Theta Kappa. With this award, the society recognizes the outstanding commitment of Mr. Garcia to the community college mission of access, opportunity, and success for all students, and acknowledges his extensive support for Phi Theta Kappa and for the PPCC Alpha Gamma Alpha PTK chapter. The Award was announced at the 88th International Convention of Phi Theta Kappa in Seattle, Washington on April 21.

President Garcia is currently the Colorado Phi Theta Kappa Presidential Ambassador.

Nominated by PTK Alpha Gamma Alpha Chapter members at PPCC, Garcia was especially commended for his guidance, encouragement and participation in PTK activities and service projects. “He continually supports our diverse philanthropic projects by offering his time and resources,” says Erin Grant, Chapter president. “He twice offered to drive more than 600 miles to a Navajo reservation school and participate in our mentorship program there. He encourages us to do our best for the school and the community and we are motivated by his continued and specific support.”

Garcia has been president of Pikes Peak Community College for five years. He was twice selected as President of the Year by the State Student Advisory Council, and the NAACP selected him as the Higher Administrator of the Year. He serves on the Board of Directors of the YMCA, Goodwill Industries, and the Total Catholic Education Board, and has just been appointed by the Governor as chair of the Board of Directors for the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. He is involved with the Pikes Peak Workforce Center and has been appointed by the Mayor to the Colorado Springs Global Affairs Council.

Prior to becoming president of PPCC, Garcia was government affairs manager for Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), and was appointed by the White House as the secretary’s representative for the Rocky Mountain Region of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs in 1993 during Governor Roy Romer’s administration. Garcia earned his juris doctorate from Harvard Law School and a bachelor of science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The Award of Distinction is named after Dr. Shirley B. Gordon, chairman of the Phi Theta Kappa Board of Directors and president emeritus of Highline Community College in Washington. Garcia was one of only 19 selected nationwide to receive the Award of Distinction, which is bestowed annually on college presidents, campus chief executive officers, and state community college directors. Phi Theta Kappa is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious honor society serving two-year and community colleges in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, and US territorial possessions. Approximately 90,000 students are inducted annually in the Society's 1,200 chapters.

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