Office Doors: A Day with Dr. Larry D. Johnson Jr.
President of Phoenix College
As told to Karen Werner
6:00 a.m. – The Climb
My alarm clock is set for 6 a.m. with the ambition of going to the gym, coming back, getting dressed and getting to the office by 8 a.m. I try to do the StairMaster and some light lifting so I have the stamina to go through long days.
8 a.m. – In the Neighborhood
Phoenix College is in a good place positionally because we are surrounded by neighbors. My alma mater, Florida A&M University, is a historically black college and university in the heart of a neighborhood. I think being among neighbors is powerful because we are able to connect with our community. I was attracted to Phoenix College because of its focus on diversity, inclusion and equity. The populations we serve are first-generation and marginalized groups. That attracted me in terms of my background and the ability to change someone’s trajectory for the better.
9 a.m. – Campus Life
I try to find my way to the student union quite often. I find that personal communication – walking on campus, stopping and asking students it they’re OK, talking to faculty – helps me engage. Last year, inspired by “Undercover Boss,” I found a professor who agreed to let me visit his class. I dressed in distressed pants and a polo shirt and sat in class the entire hour and 15 minutes. It was a good opportunity to understand who our students are and what type of resources we may need to support them. We’re an open-access institution. There is no requirement of an SAT or ACT. We meet students where they are and we take them where they want to be.
11 a.m. – Centennial Plans
Phoenix College will celebrate 100 years next November. Currently I’m meeting with faculty and staff to come up with signature events that we’ll do throughout the year. We actually were birthed out of Phoenix Union, which was segregated at the time. They wanted to make sure that all students – African-American, Hispanic and Native American – had an opportunity to be educated. School board members and our founders that worked at Phoenix Union believed we needed a post-secondary education site and that’s what Phoenix College came out of. So diversity is in everything we do. I love that we embody that even today.
Noon – Power Lunch
I’m a foodie, and am kind of selfish in terms of using my lunch meetings to find places that I love. I go to lunch at Thai Recipe Bistro, which is off of 7th Street, or a nice little restaurant off of Central called Alexi’s Grill, or I’ll go to First Watch right here on Thomas.
1 p.m. – Teacher Check-in
I like to visit our faculty members’ office suites. They say, “Oh my God. We’ve never had the president walk through,” but my background is in teaching. I taught English composition, rhetoric and Western civilization. My master’s is in medieval to baroque studies. I have a love and appreciation for teaching, but now I am asking how I can influence decisions that will help teachers, and that in turn will help students.
2 p.m. – The Social President
I have social media accounts. Many of the students follow me and send me messages and I’ve been able to direct them to financial aid, to counselors. At campus events, I capture photos and try to post them in the moment on Instagram. Creating awareness about our message is something that I continuously strive for, but I always find that it’s nice to have the opportunity to increase our following at the same time too. And if the pictures that I share don’t do this, I can always decide to find out here about which Instagram growth services are the best to help expand our online presence, which is something that is so important in the social media-oriented world that we live in. With that being said, I’m becoming more of a Twitter person, because more professionals seem to be on Twitter, but our students are on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. I receive the most feedback from students on Instagram and think being a president closer to their age group has afforded me that opportunity.
3:30 p.m. – Ask Me Anything
Most of my day is spent in meetings. There are meetings with community leaders to talk about the value of Phoenix College, but more importantly to explore opportunities for us to partner to meet their needs. There are meetings with faculty and staff. There’s my executive council who I meet with to talk about strategic priorities of the college. And then I certainly like to meet with our students. One of the coolest things I do is hold “Ask Me Anything” chats. Those are 30-minute intervals on Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m. where we send out the calendar to the entire college and anyone can sign up to talk to me.
6 p.m. – Fresh Prince
There’s a “Back 2 School Bash” tonight with a “Fresh Prince” theme. I think that being slightly younger than the average president and being a man of color in this diverse college has helped me to connect with students. I share with them that I’m a first-generation college student. I grew up in a single-family household with my mother. I have gone through trauma and know what that feels like. Sharing my story makes me more human, helping them to understand, “If he went through all of that and he is where he is, I can also overcome many of my challenges.” I have students of color say, “It’s so refreshing to see someone on campus that looks like me.
8 p.m. – Art O’Clock
I love art, music and theater. I arrived in Phoenix on Mother’s Day of 2018 and since then have gone to several performances at Comerica Theater and theatrical performances as well. I like traveling so I’ve visited Prescott and have been to Vegas several times because there are so many great shows there. To be in close proximity to San Diego, Los Angeles and Las Vegas has afforded me to do what I like doing, and that’s partake in the arts.
To learn more, visit phoenixcollge.edu.
